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INTERNET UNDERGROUND MP3, DIVX & RLEEM

PC GAMES AND TECHNOLOGY
100% AUSTRALIAN

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FOREST CHASE NEWS
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LUSIVE REVIEW!

MIDTOWN

MADNESS 2l

Thrills, spills and kills! We test drive
Microsoft’s hi-octane action racer!

MP3 PUYERS TESTED

Plus the Pentium 4 unveiled,

Duron versus Celeron deathmatch
and all the latest hardware news

STAR WARS

The Jedi Knight returns to
defeat the Dark Forces!

2CDs

SNEAK PREVIEWS

LOCAL FOCUS

AIISSE GAME STUDIOS

Ratbag shows off its next generation games
Blue Tongue tackles Starship Troopers
Irrational’s Freedom Force diary

NO CDs?

Please ask your newsagent

BLAIR WITCH
PROJECTS X

Everything you’ve heard
about the games is true! f \

ALSO STARRING

CALL TO POWER N'RUNLOK
THE CONQUERORS’ ALICE

Hk Jm

hl a m

W Ml

♦

To capture more info log onto www.MIBonDVD.com

TOMMY LEE JONES WU. SMITH

IVIEN lN BLACK

15+ feggg^Li,

DELUXE COLLECTOR* EDITION

• Hot new "behind.the scenes" doco

Audio and video commentary by
Tommy Lee Jones

• Never seen before scenes

• Compare original storyboards to

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♦

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♦

• Tunnel scene deconstruction

• PLUS much much more

Over 9 hours of
entertainment

SIVE LIMITED EDITION BOX SET

All the Collectors Edition features PLUS;

• First ever double sided/dual layer disc
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• Learn how scenes were constructed

. • • •

• Create aliens from concept to

final pompletion

• •PLUS much much more

Over 13 hours of
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2 Disc Set

The Sims 'Livin' Large'
Expansion Disk (G8+).

The Sims 'Livin' Large' lets you put
your Sims into dynamic new situations
and settings. Includes 1 25 new objects,
five new careers, five new characters,

21 new skins and 78 new walls and floors.
For PC. 5014227

www.harveynorman.com.au

I WEB ^^ Hamy 3° r,na ?

—

SYDNEY METRO • AUBURN SUPERSTORE • BALGOWLAH SUPERSTORE • BLACKTOWN

• CAMPBELLTOWN • CARINGBAH SUPACENTA • CHATSWOOD CHASE . GORDON
CENTRE • LIVERPOOL MEGACENTA • MOORE PARK SUPACENTA • PENRITH SUPER-
STORE NOW OPEN • WILEY PARK NSW COUNTRY • ARMIDALE • BATHURST • COFFS
HARBOUR • DENILIQUIN • DUBBO • ERINA • GRAFTON • INVERELL • LISMORE

• MAITLAND • MOREE • MUDGEE • MOSS VALE • NEWCASTLE SUPERSTORE • NOWRA

• ORANGE • PARKES • PORT MACQUARIE • TAMWORTH • TAREE • WAGGA WAGGA

• WARRAWONG • YOUNG ACT • FYSHWICK • WODEN PLAZA BRISBANE METRO • ASPLEY OPEN 7 DAYS • BROADWAY ON THE MALL OPEN 7 DAYS NOW OPEN • CARINDALE

• EVERTON PARK OPEN 7 DAYS • INDOOROOPILLY NOW OPEN • MT GRAVATT • OXLEY OPEN 7 DAYS • GOLD COAST OPEN 7 DAYS • TWEED HEADS SOUTH OPEN 7 DAYS
QUEENSLAND COUNTRY ■ NOOSAVILLE OPEN 7 DAYS • SUNSHINE COAST OPEN 7 DAYS • BUNDABERG • CAIRNS OPEN 7 DAYS • GLADSTONE OPEN 7 DAYS • MACKAY OPEN
7 DAYS • ROCKHAMPTON NORTH • TOOWOOMBA • TOWNSVILLE • WARWICK OPENS SEPTEMBER MELBOURNE SUPERSTORES - OPEN 7 DAYS • DANDENONG • GREENSBOROUGH
PLAZA • MARIBYRNONG • MOORABBIN • NUNAWADING • PRESTON VICTORIA COUNTRY - OPEN 7 DAYS • ALBURY • BALLARAT • BENDIGO • GEELONG • MILDURA

• SHEPPARTON -TRARALGON • WARRNAMBOOL ADELAIDE - SOUTH AUSTRALIA • ENFIELD NOW OPEN • MARION OPEN MON-SAT PERTH METRO • CANNINGTON • JOONDALUP

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• LAUNCESTON • BURNIE • DEVONPORT • ULVERSTONE www.harveynorman.com.au 4168

Harvev Norman

THE COMPUTER GAMES SPECIALISTS

The prices for goods shown in this advertisement are in Australian dollars and are GST inclusive. Some goods may not be on show or available at each Harvey Norman Franchised store.

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CONTENTS

COMMAND AND CONOUER: RED ALERT 2 PC (ma i 5f).

Wielding strange new technologies and hungering for revenge,
the Soviet army invades America. Allied forces, unprepared for
the surprise attack, are decimated. Will freedom be crushed
under the heels of Communist aggression? Play as either the
Allied forces or the Soviet invaders in this heart-pounding
strategic computer game experience.

Harvev Norman

THE CO MPUTER SPECIALISTS

\ g VARANTEB*J

www.harveynorman.com.au

IE WEB Norman |

SYDNEY METRO • AUBURN SUPERSTORE • BALGOWLAH SUPERSTORE • BLACKTOWN • CAMPBELLTOWN • CARINGBAH SUPACENTA • CHATSWOOD CHASE • GORDON CENTRE • LIVERPOOL MEGACENTA - MOORE PARK
SUPACENTA • PENRITH SUPERSTORE NOW OPEN • WILEY PARK NSW COUNTRY • ARMIDALE • BATHURST ‘ COFFS HARBOUR • DENILIQUIN - DUBBO • ERINA • GRAFTON • INVERELL • LISMORE • MAITLAND • MOREE • MUDGEE

• MOSS VALE • NEWCASTLE SUPERSTORE • NOWRA • ORANGE • PARKES • PORT MACQUARIE • TAMWORTH • TAREE • WAGGA WAGGA • WARRAWONG • YOUNG ACT • FYSHWICK • WODEN PLAZA BRISBANE METRO - ASPLEY
OPEN 7 DAYS • BROADWAY ON THE MALL OPENS AUGUST - CARINDALE • EVERTON PARK OPEN 7 DAYS • INDOOROOPILLY NOW OPEN • MT GRAVATT ♦ OXLEY OPEN 7 DAYS • GOLD COAST OPEN 7 DAYS • TWEED HEADS
SOUTH OPEN 7 DAYS QUEENSLAND COUNTRY • NOOSAVILLE OPEN 7 DAYS • SUNSHINE COAST OPEN 7 DAYS • BUNDABERG • CAIRNS OPEN 7 DAYS • GLADSTONE OPEN 7 DAYS • MACKAY OPEN 7 DAYS • ROCKHAMPTON
NORTH - TOOWOOMBA - TOWNSVILLE - WARWICK OPENS AUGUST MELBOURNE SUPERSTORES - OPEN 7 DAYS • DANDENONG • GREENSBOROUGH PLAZA • MARIBYRNONG • MOORABBIN - NUNAWADING • PRESTON
VICTORIA COUNTRY - OPEN 7 DAYS • ALBURY • BALLARAT • BENDIGO ♦ GEELONG • MILDURA • SHEPPARTON • TRARALGON • WARRNAMBOOL ADELAIDE - SOUTH AUSTRALIA • ENFIELD NOW OPEN - MARION OPEN MON-
SAT PERTH METRO • CANNINGTON • JOONDALUP • O’CONNOR NOW OPEN • OSBORNE PARK • PORT KENNEDY WESTERN AUSTRALIA COUNTRY • ALBANY • BUNBURY • BUSSELTON • GERALDTON • KALGOORLIE • KARRATHA

• PORT HEDLAND NORTHERN TERRITORY • DARWIN OPEN 7 DAYS HOBART METRO - OPEN 7 DAYS • HOBART CITY • GLENORCHY • ROSNY TASMANIA COUNTRY - OPEN 7 DAYS • LAUNCESTON • BURNIE * DEVONPORT • ULVERSTONE
*We will match any retailer's price on a like software item. The software item must be in stock. An original copy of an advertisement for the software item must be presented, including price. The advertisement must be current. This does
not include mail-order catalogues or Internet sites. Pricing presented must be in Australian dollars, www.harveynorman.com.au The prices for goods shown in this advertisement are in Australian dollars and are GST inclusive. Some goods may not be on
show or available at each Harvey Norman Franchised store.

SPOTLIGHT

NOVEMBER 2000 ISSUE 54

We put Adelaide-based Ratbag Games
under interrogation

Gaming news Prom all quarters of the globe

10 Call To Power II

The Civilization challenger returns. . .

12 Delta Force: Land Warrior

The voxels are vanquished

14 Peace Makers

Television is the real battlefield

20 Developer Diary

Irrational Games Australia give us the
inside scoop on Freedom Force

22 Charts

The most optimistic release schedule
around. Plus, vote in AMW!

SERVER

Your connection to the internet
30 Server News

D-day for Napster draws closer

32 Web Resources

Diablo II gets the treatment

34 The Internet Underground

The dark depths of dodgy downloads.
Featuring mp3, emulators, divx and
no more awful alliteration, we promise

IN PREVIEW

The shape of games to come
48 Obi-Wan

It's just Ewan the force. Sorry

52 Gunlok

Robotic action and strategy ahoy!

54 Alice

Look, just give me the knife

56 The Blair Witch Projects

It's plural because it's a trilogy

60 Starship Troopers

We bet it has bugs

IN REVIEW

The most authoritative reviews around

70 Midtown Madness 2

The racing game where racing doesn
matter. Flow many pedestrians can
you run down?

Heavy Metal: FAKK2

Arcatera

The Conquerors

Tachyon: The Fringe

Reach For The Stars

The Sims: Livin' Large

Kiss: Psycho Circus

Mech Coll, Super Hornet

Warlords: Battlecry

Thandor

All Star Tennis 2000

Score List

Wargames

100

Retroversion

Wacky Races, Pizza Syndicate

Dark Reign 2

TECH

104

The silicon state of the art
104 Tech News

Intel announces the Pentium 4 chip

106 Duron vs Celeron

Best CPU for the budget-conscious gamer

110 Hotware

Latest hardware & peripherals reviewed

114 Round-up

We put the latest mp3 players to the test

116 The Beast

118 Setup

If your PC is ailing, Dr Dan will put it
right for you

REGULARS

102

Inbox

102 Subscribe and win!

Reader Review

Subscribe and save up to 40% off your

122

CD PowerPlay

favourite magazine! Plus you could

128

Diversions

also win the Best of PC PowerPlay

130

Next Month

while you're at it!

PCPP 7

EDITORIAL

THE GREAT DEBATE

DAVID WILDGOOSE

There must be a
reason why I stick
to virtual roads

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Thief II

H ello and welcome to the November issue
of PC PowerPlay. Please step up to the
retinal scanner so we can verify your security
clearance before letting you proceed to the
rest of the magazine. One can't be too cautious
these days. Remember - trust no one.

The issue of violence in computer and
videogames is one media and conversation
topic that simply refuses to die - no matter how
many proximity mines we attach to its back.
Much of what passes for analysis of the delicate
subject is misguidedly based around a litany of
wrong-headed assumptions: that games are too
violent, that games are enjoyed only for their
violence, that depictions of violence are
inherently bad, that the interactive nature of
games makes them "worse" than film or tv, and
of course - this one is my particular favourite -
that only children play games.

With all this in mind, PC PowerPlay's wisest
members (or at least those who live in Sydney)
gathered together for the first PCPP Roundtable
Debate. The goal of which being to clear up the
confusion, inform the ignorant, and to simply set

the record straight. Hopefully, we managed to
achieve this despite us quickly realising that
holding the debate in the Strawberry Hills Hotel
was perhaps not the greatest idea. John did a fine
job of ensuring we sounded thoughtful and
articulate amid the slurred words, drunken
pedantry and arguments over whose round was
next. Above all, though, I'd like to think we have
encouraged you guys to respond with your
equally considered thoughts.

One of the last pieces of the new and
improved PCPP jigsaw has been carefully slotted
into place at the back of this issue. Turn to pi 04 to
discover our greatly expanded Tech section,
brimming with the latest news, product reviews
and in-depth examination of PC hardware. Hugh
was so pleased with how it turned out, he
decided to include a new photo of himself on the
opening page. Restrain yourself, girls.

I played Midtown Madness 2 this month. I
believe I can safely say that the experience has
only served to reinforce my decision not to own a
car. Until next time.

david@next.com.au

THE PC POWERPLAY CREW

Midtown Madness 2 caused us to reassess the kind of drivers we are...

BRETT ROBINSON

The type who's
constantly on the
lookout for 5-0

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Deus Ex

HUGH NORTON-SMrTH

They don't call
me Speed Racer
for nothing

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Snake II

MARCH STEPNIK

I'm a "wheel
between the
knees" kind of guy

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Baldur's Gate II

HARRY MARAGOS

The type that
would make Mad
Max proud

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Carmageddon 2K

CHANTAL BAIRLE

I haven't driven in
nine years (lucky
for other drivers)

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Connect A

ASHLEY MILLOTT

I don't drive...

I cruise

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Streetfighter II

MIKE WILCOX

I'm like a cranky
London cabbie

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Deus Ex

MJ DES MCNICHOLAS

A very bad one

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Ground Control

CHRISTIAN READ

The UN passed
legislation against
my learning to drive

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Heavy Metal FAKK2

EDWARD FOX

On four wheels -
yuk! On two
wheels - oh yeah!

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Sydney 2000

AGATA BUDINSKA

I am a very
friendly driver

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Icewind Dale

JOHN DEWHURST

Not the best -
that's why I catch
the train!

WHAT I'M PLAYING

Gabriel Knight III

RiraajlFOsE/

78 RENWICK ST
REDFERN NSW 2016
AUSTRALIA

PHONE 02. 9699 0333
FAX 02. 9310 1315

EDITORIAL

EDITOR

David Wildgoose <david@next.com.au>

STAFF WRITER

Brett Robinson <brettr@next.com.au>

TECH EDITOR

Hugh Norton-Smith <hughns@next.com.au>

ART DIRECTOR

Chantal Bairle

DESIGNER

Ashley Millott

CD EDITOR

Harry Maragos <harry@next.com.au>

TECHNICAL WRITERS

Daniel Rutter, Seb Fern

CONTRIBUTORS

John Dewhurst, Edward Fox, Christian
Read, March Stepnik, Daniel Staines, Mike
Wilcox, Agata Budinska, George Soropos,
Rod Campbell, Major Des McNicholas

PHOTOGRAPHER

Scott Wajon

PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR

Caroline May

PUBLISHER

Jim Flynn

ADVERTISING

GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER

Simon White <simon@next.com.au>

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Collene Leahy <collene@next.com.au>

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR

Dylan Fryer

FOR ALL ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES
PLEASE CALL 02. 9699 0349

MANAGEMENT

CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Phillip Keir
FINANCE DIRECTOR
Theo Fatseas
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Melissa Doyle
CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE
Karen Day

GENERAL MANAGER ONLINE

Carey Badcoe

SUBSCRIPTIONS

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PLEASE CALL 1300 36 11 46
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All copyrights are reserved by
Next Publishing Pty Ltd
ACN NO. 002 647 645
ISSN 1326-5644
PRINTED BY PMP Print

DISTRIBUTED BY Gordon & Gotch
PHONE 1300 65 0666
FAX 1300 65 0777

8 PCPP

Get: to the

B new screaming machines
are hitting the streets of
San Francisco and London. Not to
mention the buildings, fountains
and shopping malls. The only rule in
this race is: There aren’t any rules.

www.microsoft.com/games/midtown2

t %

4 i

J »

SPOTLIGHT

FIRST LOOK!

WE ANSWERED ACTIVISION'S CALL FOR A NEW KING WITH ALL DUE HASTE...

Cities

Units j Diplomacy j Options j Espionage

004449] Rl 50694

CAUSE AND EFFECT

GO\ERNMENT

Current Government

FOOD

PRODUCTION

COMMERCE

Workday:

Public

Works

Required:

Collected:

Crime:

Consumed:

Crime:

Upkeep:

Wages:

Subtotal:

City Use:
Public Works

Stored:

Strength | Embassy |

Geometry on

1660 BC

GOLD

[1004449

1 £

PUBLIC WORKS

Declare War

50694

Plains - French

DETAILS

GENRE

Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Activision

PUBLISHER

Activision

DUE

4th Otr 2000

URL

www.activision.com/

games/ctp2

10 PCPP

CAUSE AND EFFECT
3 Empire Happiness:

Current Government

Tyranny

FOOD

Rations:

m 9

—

Required:

[

Collected:

[

237

Crime:

Consumed:

~ D

Upkeep:

Subtotal:

Eayirr | Cilfei

Subtotal:

i 1 Unit*

Stored:

r i

PRODUCTION

Workday:

[0 4

*=J

Public

Works:

ess

COMMERCE

Wages:

j=dk

r«

C'olkclrl:

[ 273~

Science

. >x:

Sheeted:

r T4

r — nr -

[ 681

Crime:

Upkeep:

"55“

Free market capitalism in all
its glory as public works
spending hits a new low

C3iaoi4«gn-s.ii5o

^ ^ Sid Meier had better watch out.

^ With the release early last year of
Civilization: Call To Power and now its
imminent sequel, Activision is making a
concerted effort to muscle in on what
was previously Meier's exclusive territory.

In fact, it might surprise many to hear
that Call To Power actually outsold Sid
Meier's Alpha Centauri - and by a
considerable margin as well. Both of Meier's
next games, Dinosaurs and Civilization III
(yes, it is coming), remain miles from
completion, thus presenting Activision's rival
forces the perfect opportunity to grasp the
turn-based strategy crown.

Talk it over

However, the coup will need to be staged
without the name Civilization at the helm.
Thanks to legal manoeuvrings far too
complex - and, quite frankly, tedious - to
enter into here, Activision has been obliged
to remove from its game's title the word that
has become synonymous with painfully
deep, hardcore strategy for the past decade.
Hence, Call To Power II, as it will now be
known. It will certainly be interesting to see
how it fares without this titular cachet.

To ensure the Call To Power series not
only survives but prospers into its second
iteration, the in-house Activision
development team has addressed the
concerns some had with the first. Fora start,
the interface issues have been ironed out,
resulting in a more intuitive and less
cumbersome affair. As the annoying
necessity of constantly de-selecting units
was the original's only glaring fault, this
bodes well for the sequel's quality. As does
the greater attention given to diplomacy.
Always a tricky piece of the design of any
strategy game, the diplomatic options need
to be extensive and varied without the
player's exchanges with other leaders
becoming unpredictable and unrealistic. Call
To Power ll's negotiation model allows for
proposals and counter-proposals and the
ability to respond via a range of tones (from
friendly to hostile), all amid the added
consideration of geopolitical borders.

Balance of power

Elsewhere it seems to be a case of tweaking
and fine-tuning the already accomplished
gameplay. The timeline begins in 4,000 BC
and concludes 300 years into our future.

Yet in a decision sure to surprise all but the most
pessimistic stargazers, the entire game
remains truly earthbound. One can only
assume the absence of space exploration
makes for an easier time balancing the game.

Speaking of balance, much thought has
gone into providing varied routes to victory,
whether it be via military, scientific,
economic or cultural means. The challenge
here is not so much to make trading your
way to power just as feasible as fighting, but
to make it equally enjoyable. Few strategy
games have even come close in this regard,
and Call To Power II faces the extra difficulty
(but in a good way, of course) of possessing
an excellent combat system, one that is
significantly in advance of its Meier-
influenced competitors.

If Activision achieved its goals, then this
is one call we'll find very tough to resist.

David Wildgoose

WHY CALL TO POWER II DEMANDS A SECOND LOOK.

+ The first in the series was a
rough gem...

...that's been vigorously
polished for this sequel

There hasn't been a great turn-
based strategy game for ages

"♦That classic Civilization
gameplay remains

PCPP 11

SPOTLIGHT

FIRST LOOK!

NOVALOGIC'S FIRST TWO SHOTS WERE SLIGHTLY OFF, BUT THIS ONE'S RIGHT ON TARGET

DETAILS

12 PCPP

GENRE

Tactical Shooter

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Novalogic

PUBLISHER

Electronic Arts

DUE

4th Otr 2000

URL

www.novalogic.com

Anyone who believes that
violence can't be
therapeutic obviously hasn't
traveled with CityRail

Novalogic's Delta Force games
^ have distinguished themselves
as some of the most popular tactical
shooters in existence, particularly within
the multiplayer community. The games'
realistically undulating terrain and
expansive maps have taken the tactical
shooter out of its traditional CQB (That's
'Close Quarters Battle', acronym fans -
Ed) domain and planted it firmly in the
realm of the sniper.

Neither title was perfect, however, and
both have been criticised for their use of
voxel graphics. Although the use of voxels
allows the portrayal of landscapes that are
far more life-like than anything constructed
from polygons, the resulting performance
hit was enough to confine enjoyment of
both titles to those with high end PCs.

Using a new, 3D accelerated engine,

Land Warrior will feature realistic terrain
certain to rival that of its predecessors, but
this won't be at the expense of the
impressive view distances so critical to this
type of game. The only casualty of the
introduction of the new engine will be the
overlaid grass textures that served to
conceal the player in Delta Force 2.

Though, in light of the dramatic increase in
game speed, and the enormous improvement
in the size and interior detail of structures,
this trade-off seems more than acceptable.

Bring in the specialist

Land Warrior will depart even further from
the established formula with the
introduction of five distinct characters. These
characters will specialise in particular forms
of warfare, including sniping, demolition and
underwater operations, and will benefit
greatly when employing related weapons.
For example, the sniper will be able to pick
off distant targets with relative ease, but
other characters will find their aim with a
sniper rifle adversely affected by their own
breathing patterns. Similarly, the heavy
weapons expert will find his aim when firing
a heavy machine gun to be fairly steady, but
other characters will be forced to correct
their aim to compensate for the weapon's
recoil. These character classes and their
associated advantages will carry over to
multiplayer, which will bring even greater
variety to that aspect of the game.

As is to be expected, Land Warrior will
offer a number of new weapons, including

a silenced variant of the PSG-1 sniper rifle, a
semi automatic grenade launcher, and a
submachine gun with a 100 round
magazine! The AT4 (a modernised version
of the LAW rocket), a fully automatic
shotgun, several new assault weapons and
the silenced SOCOM pistol will round out
the arsenal. And, according to Novalogic,
there is the distinct possibility that
additional weapons will be introduced
during development.

With eight different multiplayer modes to
be offered over Novalogic's Novaworld service,
and the promise of even more ways to
dispatch unwary enemies from a kilometre
away, odds are that Land Warrior will prove
to be the best Delta Force game yet.

Brett Robinson

WHY DELTA FORCE: LAND WARRIOR DEMANDS A SECOND LOOK...

+ l fc ' s basec * on the joint project + It will be possible to switch 3D acceleration will make it + It's got the only thing cooler

between Novalogic and the Army combat roles mid-mission accessible to low-end PC owners than sniping - silenced sniping

PCPP 13

SPOTLIGHT

FIRST LOOK!

THE VIDEO CAMERA IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

DETAILS

14 PCPP

GENRE

Realtime Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Mathematiques

Appliquees

PUBLISHER

Ubi Soft

DUE

1st Qtr 2001

URL

www.ubisoft.com

B3U

Using the media to manipulate
^ the masses is certainly nothing
new. Since the creation of the first
printing press, the media has served as
one of the most powerful propaganda
weapons in existence. Perhaps one of
the best examples of this can be found in
the 1991 Desert Storm conflict, when the
likes of CNN and the BBC had the world

The pre-school was a
front for a military
command post. Honest!

lift

I iM

convinced that the allied forces were
conducting a surgical war against Iraq.

The Western forces were supposedly
using only 'smart' munitions allegedly
capable of discriminating between legitimate
military targets and day care centres. In
reality, less than 2% of the munitions
deployed against Iraq were 'smart', with the
majority simply being unguided explosives
dropped in an indiscriminate fashion - a
process known as carpet bombing.

Spin doctors

Peacemakers, the current title for this work-in-
progress, will be the first realtime strategy title
to address the crucial role played by the media
in armed conflicts. Successfully completing
specific missions will hinge as much on an
ability to manipulate the civilian population

as it will on battlefield superiority. Without
carefully crafted media coverage, the player's
own population may protest their country's
involvement in the conflict and engage in
demonstrations reminiscent of those staged
during the Vietnam War. But with a crack team
of spin doctors feverishly working around the
clock, even the destruction of a civilian
medical facility could be attributed to any
number of fabricated external factors.

The political defeat of a rival country's
ruling party can prove just as sweet as a
military victory, and achieving this will be a
distinct possibility in Peacemakers. The
game's developer promises that extremely
advanced Al will render individual combat
units virtually autonomous, minimising the
need for micromanagement and allowing

the player to focus on the theatre of
operations as a whole.

Gameplay will be further streamlined by
the fact that commanders under the player's
control will eventually become delegates
able to issue orders to subordinate units
without the need for player intervention. The
Al of the enemy will be geared such that
anticipation of the player's moves will
influence its use of tactics, and it will learn
favourite tactics used by the player and
devise means to combat them. The result of
this, according to Mathematiques
Appliquees, will be that no two battles will
ever be won using the same strategy twice.
Due early next year, Peacemakers is one RTS
game we'll be keeping a close eye on.

Brett Robinson

WHY PEACEMAKERS DEMANDS A SECOND LOOK...

^ It will change the way you look + Advanced Al will make unit Its unique take on the genre is -+• News choppers will make

at news coverage monitoring a thing of the past especially refreshing calibrating SAM's easy

PCPP 15

SPOTLIGHT

Thief Storms Back

TWO MORE IMMERSIVE REALITY SIMS IN THE PIPELINE

In exciting (but not exactly

unexpected) news, Eidos and Ion
Storm have officially announced the
development of Thief 3 and Deus Ex 2.

In the wake of the closure of Looking Glass
Studios, several former Looking Glass
employees have been snapped up by the
Austin arm of Ion Storm and immediately
assigned to the Thief 3 and Deus Ex 2
development teams. Harvey "Witchboy"

Smith, Lead Designer of Deus Ex, will adopt
the role of Project Director of the sequel, and
ex-Looking Glass programmer, Chris Carollo,

will spearhead development as Lead
Programmer. Two other former Looking Glass
programmers will pump out Deus Ex 2 code,
while Steve Powers, Monte Martinez and
Ricardo Bare will reprise their roles as
designers. Surprisingly, Warren Spector will
be overseeing both projects simultaneously.
But we're confident that lending his genius to
both projects will prove extremely beneficial.

While very little concrete information on
Deus Ex 2 can be found at this early stage,
Thief 3 data is even scarcer. However, what
Ion Storm promises is markedly increased

depth and freedom, and
the minimisation of
incidents that limit the
options available to the
player. We just hope that the
original concept for Thief 3 -
where the player was free to
wander the entire City at will -
hasn't been abandoned.

Release dates for the titles won't be
predicted for some time, but the fact
that both games will blow us away
seems inevitable.

16 PCPP

SPLINTERED

Doomed Game

ID FORFEITS QUEST EXPERIENCE POINTS

id Software's Graeme Devine recently

revealed the specifics of the title the
company was working on before it
abandoned the project in favour of creating
a new Doom game.

Tentatively titled Quest, the game
would have "combined the RPG massively
multiplayer ideas of a game like Everquest
with the multiple server features of a
Quake-style game," said Devine. "Quest
would have had a small party of five, like a
fighter, barbarian and magic user, and the
players would sign on to a Quest server
and have it be a different server with
different missions and quests. You would
have been there on your own - you and

your five buddies against the world. Each
server would have been run by a person
akin to a Dungeon Master in Dungeons &
Dragons who would have been in control
of the environments the players found
themselves in, right down to the rats
crawling around on the ground."

Such a concept seems intriguing in the
extreme and, for us at least, holds greater
appeal than yet another iteration of the
Doom series. Devine's displeasure with the
decision to halt development of Quest was
revealed in the final sentence of his
statement which simply read, "I hope that
somebody makes that game". Like countless
others, we're inclined to agree.

Melbourne-based
developer, Stromlo
Entertainment, has
closed its doors
following EA’s
withdrawal of
financial backing for
the Descent-esgue
shooter, Splinter. EA
allegedly felt that
Splinter too closely
resembled Forsaken,
which sold poorly
worldwide. Despite
the fact that Splinter
was nearing
completion, EA
pulled the plug,
forcing the company
to undergo
liquidation. Several
former Stromlo
employees have now
moved on to other
local companies
including Auran and
Blue Tongue.

The Settlers IV

BLUE BYTE NOT READY TO SETTLE DOWN JUST YET

The lads from Blue Byte Software are now working on the fourth incarnation

of the hugely popular Settlers series. Subtitled The DarkTribe, Settlers IV will
chronicle the evil Morbus' efforts to rid the Earth of all things green and leafy. As is to
be expected, the game will introduce a staggering array of new units and structures,
and require a more measured approach to combat. Visuals will also receive the update
treatment, as will Settlers IV's multiplayer options. The game's estimated release date
stands at December 2000, but early 2001 seems a bit more likely.

PCPP 17

SPOTLIGHT

FRIENDLESS SKIES

The intensely
anticipated B-17 The
Mighty Eighth will no
longer feature any
multiplayer
capabilities.
According to Hasbro,
this lamentable
decision arose from
the extreme
difficulty the
developer
experienced in
compressing game
data for
transmission.

Though hobbled by
this omission, B-17 II
looks like it will still
be a phenomenally
enjoyable game. But,
for now, a moment of
silence is in order.

Nomads

STRATOSPHERIC WHAT?

■ Radon Labs, the developer of

Urban Assault, is toiling away on an
interesting new game that will combine
elements of realtime strategy with
action/adventure and roleplaying styles of
gameplay. The most compelling aspect of
Nomads will be its stratospheric milieu,
which will see the player construct factories
and bases on enormous floating islands.
These factories will produce combat units
including zeppelins, biplanes and the like.

The player will therefore have the ability to
pilot individual units or command squadrons
of them. Although Radon has yet to find a
publisher for Nomad, it is anticipated that
the game will be completed in late 2001.

Project Overdrive

WALK ACROSS THE WORLD IN SEVEN HOURS

Russian developer Vistage is

presently working on an intriguing
action game that promises to redefine
the term 'immersive world'. Project
Overdrive will hybridise the firstperson
shooter and driving genres, offering the
type of gameplay that may very well
revolutionise the industry. The extremely
ambitious title will exactingly model an
entire city - from smog-shrouded

skyscrapers in the CBD to tranquil forests
on the periphery - that will take seven
real-world hours to cross on foot! The
game will offer the player unprecedented
freedom, making it possible to enter any
building, steal any vehicle and undertake
any number of nefarious assignments for
local crime syndicates. Barring any
unforseen delays, Project Overdrive will
grace our PCs early next year.

Stupid Invaders

THIS TIME IT'S THE ALIENS COPPING A PROBING

■ The dying adventure genre may soon experience a resurgence with the

impending release of Stupid Invaders. Inspired by the Space Goofs TV series,
Stupid Invaders will pit five bizarre aliens against the evil DrSakarine. Like so many
mad scientists, Sakarine wishes to subject the clueless quintet to a barrage of
horrendous experiments. It'll be up to the player to see that the intergalactic
infiltrators escape the clutches of the Dr unscathed. With sharp, colourful graphics
that could only be described as 'trippy', Stupid Invaders seems destined for success
upon its Xmas 2000 release.

18 PC PP

Add-ons

NEW EXPANSIONS COMING

■ At this year's ECTS, Blizzard has announced the inevitable

expansion pack for Diablo II. Set in the Barbarian Highlands,
the pack will see the player treading the path of destruction wrought
by Diablo's brother, Baal. In addition to a swag of new quests, the
expansion pack will introduce two new characters - the Assassin
and the Druid - as well as more than ten new monster species and
hundreds of new items. Those spectacular cinematics will also
make a welcome return. No official release date has been
announced, but Blizzard is hoping to have the expansion pack
completed within the first half of 2001.

It's not often that a game is blessed with more than one expansion
pack, but this will certainly be the case with the glorious Rollercoaster
Tycoon. The Loopy Landscapes add-on will include new rides,
amenities, themes, attractions and scenarios. For the sick bastards
among us, this will mean even more opportunities for creating havoc.
And as an added bonus, Loopy Landscapes will also ship with the
original Corkscrew Follies (or Added Attractions, as it was called locally)
add-on, for those who don't already own it. Tremendous value for
money - especially for the die-hard fans - Loopy Landscapes should
appear on store shelves within the next few weeks.

Big Huge Publishing Deal

REYNOLDS SIGNS UP WITH MICROSOFT

Earlier this year, several former

Firaxis staff members opened up
a development studio of their own
known as Big Huge Games. The small
studio was founded by Brian Reynolds,
co-designer of Alpha Centauri and one
of the talented people behind
Civilization II and Colonization. Big Huge
Games' work on an as yet unknown

strategy title has now been given a
boost with the announcement that
Microsoft will be publishing a succession
of titles developed by the company. This
announcement followed Microsoft's
purchase of a minority stake in the
Maryland-based developer. According to
Reynolds, the fruits of Big Huge Games'
labour won't be revealed until the

estimated completion of the game in
2002, but specific details on the game's
features will be unveiled in the very
near future. Reynolds went on to state
that Big Huge Games will be developing
titles aimed specifically at the mass
market, and did not rule out the
possibility of his company developing
for Microsoft's X-Box console.

World Sports Cars

EMPIRE'S LATEST MAY BECOME THE GENRE'S GREATEST

Empire Interactive looks set to

raise the realism bar with its latest
racing sim, World Sports Cars. The game
will place the player behind the wheel of
some of the world's fastest automobiles,
and allow them to push their abilities to
the limit on several gruelling circuits. Not
exactly revolutionary stuff, but the game
will also permit the player to take their
vehicle of choice off the race track and
onto the surrounding streets!

With just enough mechanical
tweakage to put Gran Turismo to shame,
World Sports Cars will also excel in the
physics and damage modelling
departments. And if you think it couldn't
get any better than this, then check out
the graphics for yourself!

UBI-MENSCH

Red Storm
Entertainment has
been acquired by
industry giant
Ubisoft. However, the
celebrated founder
of the tactical
shooter genre will
retain its autonomy
by operating as an
independent, wholly
owned subsidiary.
Thus, development
of Tom Clancy
properties (such as
the venerable
Rainbow Six) will
continue unabated.

PCPP 19

AFTER DESIGNING THE BRILLIANT SYSTEM SHOCK 2,
IRRATIONAL SET UP AN OFFICE IN CANBERRA.

THIS IS THE TALE OF THE TEAM'S FIRST GAME...

DEVELOPER DIARY

Irrational Games Australia on...

Freedom Force

I Hi and welcome to the PCPP exclusive

developer diary for Freedom Force! We
aim to write a regular column here that
will give you an insight into how we
go about making this game. This
isn't going to be your regular hype
loaded PR spiel. We'll focus less
on the great features and cool
things we are putting into the
game and talk a little more
about why we are making
certain decisions and what it's
like to be a games developer.

A little background first: who
are we? We're Irrational
Games Australia. You may
know us from a game
called System Shock 2.
Irrational is currently working
on a PS2 title, the Lost, but has
also opened a new office in
Australia - and that's us. So we're
an interesting mixture of
experienced developers and fresh young
faces. That's always a recipe for great
things, I think.

The concept

Well, enough background - what are we
actually doing? In this column I want to talk
a little bit about the process of turning an
idea into a game. Lots of people come up
with great game designs all the time but
very few of these ever get burned onto a CD
and put on a store shelf. Where do the real
shipping game designs come from?

Many game ideas are sequels - like Shock
2. Sequels appeal to publishers because
they are far less risky for the publisher
than an original title. Game players
generally like sequels for the same
reason - they're getting a known
quantity. Of course, the problem with
sequels is that they can get stagnant and
boring - and from a development point of
view they are less fun because there's far
less creative work for the developer.

Many other games are licensed
products. These aim to cash in on
characters or worlds created in other
media. Sometimes publishers do
something really daring and spin a licence
into new genre likeX-Com Interceptor or
Barbie Combat Simulator. But let's
face it, licensed products, with a
few obvious exceptions, are
generally uninspired efforts. It's
not hard to see why this is so -
developers have to work within
pretty tight constraints, often
having to get all
content cleared
through a 3rd
party who
really isn't
interested in
the game.

The rarest of all
game concepts are new
concepts. Within this
category an even
rarer game is
the game that
branches out
into a new genre of
gameplay. Most games
are fairly straightforward
reinterpretations of established
gameplay ideas: realtime strategy,
firstperson shooting and so on. To be
allowed to create a new form of
gameplay or a new genre is a rare
luxury for a developer because it's
so risky for the publisher.

A super idea

So, in creating a new game
concept you first have to think
how you are going to pitch
the idea to a publisher.

What is going to sell
this idea to the publisher? Do you have a
licence? Do you plan to make a sequel? Are
you doing a twist on an established genre?
If so, how will you distinguish yourself from
the rest of the pack? Do you have a brilliant
new concept? If so, how will you convince
the publisher that it will sell?

With Freedom Force, we
think we have discovered
an interesting niche that i£
both clearly popular and yet strangely
untapped. Our gameplay contains
interesting novel elements (destructible
terrain), a mix of established mechanics
(RPG systems, realtime tactical combat) and
a genre that is popular but under-
represented (comic book superheroes).
Those are the basic ingredients that we
mixed to get this game from our heads and
into the publisher's marketing plan.

Of course, once the game has been sold
to the publisher, one commences the long
process of actually building the monster
that has been dreamed up. This process is
largely a process of compromise along with
a large measure of blood, sweat and tears.
We'll talk more about that in the next
edition of the diary, coming soon!

JONATHAN CHEY
Managing Director Irrational Games
Australia

20 PCPP

miivs oy cnycb T>raopor

The legacy continues.

AVAILABLE DECEMBER 2000

www.mattelinteractive.com

WINDOWS

95/98

CD - ROM

v kJAUNGEONS

> ”^rIgons 1

www.poolofradiance.com

©2000 Published and ^stributed by Mattel, Inc. All rights reserved. The SSI logo is a registered trademark of Mattel. Inc. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. FORGOTTEN REALMS. POOL OF RADIANCE, and the Wizards of the Coast logo are trademarks owned
by Wizards of the Coast. Inc. Windows is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SPOTLIGHT

Coming soon...

PCPP'S ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO
THE GAMING MONTHS AHEAD

OCTOBER

Anachronox (Ozisoft)

Blair Witch Vol 1 (Jack of all Games)

C&C Red Alert 2 (Electronic Arts)

Crimson Skies (Microsoft)

Metal Gear Solid (Microsoft)

Midtown Madness 2 (Microsoft)

No One Lives Forever (Electronic Arts)

Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force (Activision)

Tony Hawk 2 (Activision)

Tribes 2 (Havas)

NOVEMBER

Alice (Electronic Arts)

B-17 2: The Mighty Eighth (Hasbro)

Black & White (Electronic Arts)

Blair Witch Vol 2 (Jack of all Games)

Colin McRae Rally 2 (Ozisoft)

Giants: Citizen Kabuto (Interplay)

Quake III: Team Arena (Activision)

Rune (Jack of all Games)

DECEMBER

Commandos 2 (Ozisoft)

MechWarrior (Microsoft)

Obi-Wan (Playcorp)

Oni (Jack of all Games)

Sacrifice (Interplay)

Star Topia (Ozisoft)

JANUARY

Alone In The Dark (Infogrames)

Hitman (Ozisoft)

Loose Cannon (Microsoft)

MechCommander 2 (Microsoft)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Activision)
Simsville (Electronic Arts)

BLACK & WHITE

Duke Nukem Forever

Warcraft 3

Commandos 2

Team Fortress 2

Star Trek: Elite Force

Giants

Halo

Freelancer

Simsville

□ The monkey's have it! To our immense

surprise - and, it must be said, pleasure -
Peter Molyneux's glorified Tamagotchi leaps to
the top of the tree this month. With that pesky
little Diablo game out of the way, there was
absolutely no stopping the combined force of a
giant cow, oversized tiger and mammoth ape.
Just below it seems there are still plenty of
foolhardy types content to wait. . . and wait. . .
and wait. . . for Duke and Warcraft 3. But will you
still be voting for them this time next year? Our
money says you will. Further down there’s a
return for the spunky looking Giants and a new
entry forSimsville.

This month's winner, Sally Jameson of
Doncaster, VIC, has won herself a copy of
Simsville, which should be arriving in January.

Send your Top Five Most Wanted Games to
PC Powerplay at:

wanted@pcpowerplay.com.au

22 PCPP

PCPP'S MOST RECENT GOLD AWARDED

GAMES - BUY THEM ALL!

Baldur's Gate II

Interplay

Classic roleplaying courtesy of
Bioware, Black Isle and the 3rd
Edition AD&D rules.

Earth 2150

Mattel Interactive

Extensive and exhaustive, this is one
of the most accomplished realtime
strategy titles in a long time.

• Score 90 • Issue #52

Ground Control

Jack of all Games

Swedish developer Massive
redefines realtime strategy with
intense tactical combat and a
glorious 3D engine.

Deus Ex

Ozisoft

Is it an RPG? Or is it an FPS? Deus
Ex lets you decide how you want to
play it. The best game of all time,
in our humble opinion.

Shogun: Total War

Electronic Arts

Demanding swift tactical acumen
and heavy strategic thought in
egual amounts, Shogun is deep
wargaming without peer.

Thief Ml Hitman

David: Take your time, guys Brett: Pass me my garrotte

X-Com: Alliance Silent Hunter 2

Hugh: I'm an abductee Major Des: Dive! Dive! Dive!

CHARTS

THIS MONTHS BEST SELLERS

The Official Australian
PC Games Chart

Compiled by Inform in association with AVSDA July 2000

Top 2D Best Selling Full Price PC Games

(>$29.95 inc. GST)

Position Game Title

Game Type

Diablo 2

RPG

Icewind Dale

RPG

The Sims

Strategy

Sim Mania Pack

Bundle

Cmmd. B Cnqr. Tiberian Sui

Strategy

Age of Empires 2

Strategy

Vampire: The Masquerade

Adventure

•0-

Shogun: Total War

Strategy

Dark Reign 2

Strategy

Brand Prix 3

Racing

Motecrnss Madness 2

Racing

Baldurs Bate

RPG

Deus Ex

RPG

Sim City 3D0D

Strategy

Croc 2: Legend of The Gobbes Platform

Cmmd. B Cnqr. World Warfare Strategy

Sanic/Barfield/Baku Pack

Bundle

Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Strategy

Age of Empires

Strategy

2D ©

Dune 20DD

Strategy

ni’

0 200D Inform ABN 5306787641! Ail rights

nformBIPPPiW

resented. Product or company names may
be trademarks, or registered trademarks, of
their respective corporations. Inform forbids

V S D A,

all reproduction or distribution of this
material in part or full without prior
consent, for further information contact
Phil Burnham on (02)9264 0095 or visit

(Australian Vi

snal Software Distributors Association Ltd

Harvev Norman

SAVE 15%

OFF ANY TOP 20 GAME!

Name:

Address:

State: Post Code:

Harvey Norman franchisees would like to offer readers of
PC PowerPlay an exclusive discount offer on the titles
appearing on the Official Australian PC Games Chart.
Simply complete the coupon and take it into any
Harvey Norman franchise store to claim your discount.

• Limit of one per person. Original voucher must be presented & completed to claim the discount.
Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. Not redeemable or transferable for cash.
Offer ends 31st October. Customer details may be used for further promotional activities.

Ph:

Email:

Local Harvey Norman store:

[H 1 would like to receive news &

| other special offers

HP1

PCPP 23

Digital Island

The Barg are everywhere , and! it's your jab ta give 'em a one-way ticket to “fragviiie.” Voyager
is trapped in a nuil space teeming with deadly aliens that you and ynur elite Hazard Team must
destroy . lt f s first-person-shooter action that won f t quit — can f t quit — as you defend Voyager
from certain assimilation — or death - Voyager is depending on you .

Lock and load .

www.digitalisland.net

www.startrek.com

www.activision.com

AdiVisioN

TM, © and ©2000 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved. Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager and related marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software, Inc. Id Technology ©1999 Id Software, Inc.
All rights reserved. © 2000 Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved.AII other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

Limited offer! Exclusive Star Trek Voyager Elite
Force messenger bag (valued at RRP S30) FREE
when you purchase the game.

Team AI is made
seamless by the
Quake III Arena m
engine . Characters
react, adapt, and give
their lives for a
common goal .

Hi-tech weapons
make for incredible
firepower, as you frag
the Borg with brutal
blasts of defiance.

j The Quake III Arena
\ engine provides
\ detailed, curved
surfaces aboard
| Borg cubes and other
\ beautifully-rendered
[ ships.

The Quake III Arena engine goes to /<>
new frontiers for the first time! ^

INBOX

iINBOX

Letters Tip: Don't mow the lawn with a vacuum cleaner

Write to: PC PowerPlay Letters, 78 Renwick St, Redfern 2016. Email: letters@pcpowerplay.com.au

Implemented particularly

Heyy'all. Love your magazine. Do I
win a prize now? [A prize for the
most cliched opening line, perhaps?
- Ed.) Damn!

Anyway, I just wanted to ask why
games developers bother to pump out
those useless FI "simulations", and I
use that term very loosely indeed. Take
FI 2000 for example. It comes Prom EA
Sports, who indeed has developed
some pedigree in the last Pew years. It
features the FIA license, and it is based
on the 2000 season. It all seems to be
in place, except they overlooked one
thing. Actually making a good game.

I read with interest some reviews
of it, and they said that in some
aspects it has better physics than
GP2, still the best game of all time
(IMO). So I went and tried it out (hired
it Por $5 overnight). I installed it,
drove the thing Por about half
the time it took to install and

then removed it Prom my machine,
where it will never find it's sorry ass
parked ever again.

"Controlling" the car is based more
on luck than skill, and why is there a
lag with the braking? You say, "I want
to brake. . . now". The game, however,
decides that no, it does not want to
brake at that particular moment. It
hasn't finished doing its hair or make-
up or something, and will get around
to braking in its own time when it is
good and ready.

The tracks bear little resemblance
to their real-life counterparts and the
graphics and sound are poor at best.
The only good thing about the game is
the damage, which I thought was
implemented particularly well.

Do they even bother to look at
what comes before? Yes, here we have
game-x, which is widely believed to be
the best in the genre. Now, we really
should make something better than
this, but that would take way too much
time and effort. How about we rush out
a half-finished useless piece of crap
and hype it up so that stacks of
people go and buy it. Yes! That
is what we will do! Ha ha! Why
didn't we think of this before?

Shaun Hodges

Yet the twist in the tale, you'll be
relieved to hear, is that stacks of
people didn't go and buy it.
Fortunately they all seem to have
chosen Grand Prix 3 instead.

The reset button

I bought Diablo II the day it came out,
and have been trying to play it ever
since. After waiting three years for it,
I'm amazed at how often the game
locks up my system. It happens every
hour or so, and nothing I or my tech
mate does can fix it. I have a TNT2 and

a SoundBlaster card, and the bright
pink 'after thought' piece of paper that
came in the box tells owners of these
cards to install the latest drivers. We
did that, as well as run Scandisk after
every freeze up (Scandisc finds errors
after every freeze), and I've uninstalled
and reinstalled the game twice.

When it freezes the computer, the
only way out of the freeze is to hit the
reset button, something I have had to
do about ten times a day since buying
this product. I'm not going to play it
any more because I can't afford to

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Issue the contents

You asked for our opinions on the
direction PCPP is taking, so here goes:

1. 1 love the light-hearted tone
your magazine takes - it's part of
what makes it distinctive. But I strongly
feel this should only be the case where
it doesn't detract from the magazine's
utility. I'm trying to decide whether I
should buy "Dogs of War". Your
review gave it an 81 with an "against"
of "It's not called War Monkeys.
Boo...!". I find it hard to believe that
warranted a 19% markdown.

2. Editing. Obviously the
occasional error is unavoidable, but
some blatantly obvious ones seem to
be the norm at PCPP. In Issue #51 the
CD Guide section on MDK2 is on
some sort of hunting game instead,
in an earlier issue the contents page
labelled a picture clearly from Shogun
with the page number and title of
"Diablo II". And I've lost count of the
number of times I've seen "caption
caption caption" under a picture.

3. I'd personally like to see more
on Tech, but unless I miss my guess
PCPP will be focussing on a different
topic each issue and one of these will
be tech, so I'm fine with that.

4 The review section seems to
have shrunk - or is it just that there

wasn't much out this month? That's
all of the bad stuff. The good stuff is
that the bad stuff is all exceptions
and I 99% like the new direction
PCPP is headed in. Keep up the
good work.

Keith Bissett

Thanks for the compliments, but
to address your concerns:

1. We just couldn't resist the
monkey reference. Hopefully you
found the actual review text more
than justified the score.

2. With our strict, new,
proofreading nanoaugmentation
installed, such incidents are a
thing of the past.

3. Enjoy the new Tech section.

A. It's a cyclical thing. Most

publishers hold their big releases
for the end of the year, meaning
that the winter months tend to be
rather slow.

26 PCPP

THE TOP 100: THE RESPONSE

As I speak

You guys would not know a good
game if it slapped you in the face.
How the hell did Messiah get 54th
and Thief II get 4th? They should be
the other way round. Messiah is
soooo good.

You guys suck. How the hell did
Quake III get in there? Get over it, it
ain't that good.

The worst game on the list is
System Shock 2. You have got to be
kiddin' me that it was scary. I finished
it in two weeks and I barely even
played it. How can you piss your
pants over a game like that?

I have every game in the Top 10
and half of them are shit. What, you
like playin' shit games? Play Diablo II
and Messiah and Dogs of War.

Owww, my god, I am reading this
as I speak... The Sims. The goddam
Sims. Whoever thought of the concept
for that deserves to die.

Andrew Eggins

Right, you, outside - now!

Comes in 9th

To the brain dead vegetables who
saw fit to attempt to compile the Top
1 00 Games of All Time. Take your pills
and go back to sleep...

I cannot believe that Quake did not
rank in the top ten, let alone the top
100. You show a shambler standing
on top of a podium, implying that
Quake is the number one game of all
time (which it is), yet it doesn't even
get a mention in the list itself.

Quake II comes in 63rd. How you
worked that out I'll never know. And
Quake III comes in 9th. But where was
Quake? I've read your Top 100 six
times now, and Quake still isn't there...

Is there something wrong with
you people? How can a game that
brought so much to the FP5 community
not make it into the Top 100? Quake
brought us 3D modelling as opposed
to bitmaps. Quake brought us great
single player games. But its best
feature was multiplayer! How many
of us started our multiplayer lives on
Quake? There were so many mods for

Quake. How many of us have stayed
up all night playing Clan Arena or
Team Fortress? Quake has to be one
of the most popular games of all time.
It should've been number one, but
you gave Deus Ex that title.

You say that the games that made
it in were "the most playable,
entertaining, challenging and
downright fun". Was Quake not all of
the above and more? I rest my case

Simon Turner

You seemed to have missed the
point of the list. Why would you
play Quake today when you could
play Quake M's superior single
player game or one of Quake Ill's

brilliant multiplayer options? The
Top 100 is about acknowledging
the best, not the most important.

Fat monkey's ass

Although you're right about Deus EX.
It kicks the fat monkey's ass down
the stairs then back up. Have you tried
to kill everyone in UNATCO and survive?

Ryan Schlegl

Yes, but it's more fun trying to kill
everyone in the Underworld bar
and Free Clinic in Hell's Kitchen.

Just about right

I wanted to let you know that I think
you got the Top 100 just about right.
But I believe System Shock 2 deserved
2nd place next to Deus Ex. Otherwise
it was excellent. Keep up the good work.

Michael Haysman

And on that warm and fuzzy
note... Bye!

replace my harddrive when it goes
eventually. I have looked through the
tech forum on the Blizzard web site

and there are heaps of people with
the same problem.

Now, with patch vl.02 installed, it
freezes up every ten minutes or so.
Blizzard obviously hasn't tried to fix
the problem, and despite scores of
complaints from gamers suffering the
same problem posted on the Blizzard
Tech Support Forum, Blizzard has not
said anything about trying to get a fix
ready. This to me is totally unacceptable.

I think everyone contemplating
buying this game should know it is
really a beta version rather than a
finished product. And if they have a
TNT2 or a SB, they should seriously
reconsider buying this version of it
because it may not run on their system.

After waiting three years, and
spending $100 on it (GST is another
story), I am seriously pissed off by the
product and Blizzard's attitude.

Mark Yan

Its rightful context

I cannot believe that you could be so
naive as to publish that image of Stevie
Killcreek (sic). Do you honestly realise
how female readers are going to feel
about it? Is it your intention to become
a boys only magazine? I have no
problems with "mens" magazines or
the background image in its rightful
context, but I cannot believe that you
do not realise just how misoginistic (go
look that word up (Oh, the irony - Ed))
the doctored picture you have printed
is. Do you believe that it is appropriate
for your publication?

As editor, David, it is your
responsibility to control the content of
the magazine and whether you realise
it or not you have screwed up. I
suggest a formal apology to the
female readership. If you have any
creditability (sic) left you will publish
this letter and some form of
justification or response because I can
garrantee (sic) that I am not the only
person who is thinking this way.

Nathan Thompson

The doctored image of which you
speak was meant as a satirical
joke. Ion Storm had used
Killcreek's "ass" to promote
Daikatana, so we just wanted to
show who the real "ass" was -

namely, John Romero. Believe it or
not, Nathan, yours was the only
letter of complaint we received.

Aspect of stealth

I was reading through the issue that
had theTop 50 games of all time and I
noticed that Thief: The Dark Project
scored in at only 3rd. I'm sorry, maybe
I'm just an unusual person, but I think
the only game that surpasses Thief is
Thief II. There is a reason for this:

Thief introduced a concept that
although was well known, was not
widely focused upon or even used. I'm
talking about stealth. Games like
N64's Goldeneye have a slight aspect
of stealth (the "shoot them quietly"
sort), but no game has actually had
stealth as a major point.

Wolfenstein 3D and Doom
revolutionised the way firstperson
shooters are played and many, many

BYTE SIZE

If you wish to sue me (keep in mind
that I am a poor student), then
imagine that I received a falsified
letter from John Dewhurst giving me
permission to pimp Tony.

Peeholio PooSlice

games have been based on the same
concept - some to spectacular effect
(Quake, Half-Life, Unreal, Dark Forces) -
but none of the newer games have
really changed the way the games are
played. Thief and its successor have
changed the way games are played,
among other things, making the
player think before, and during, acting.

The point I make is this: games
come and games go. Some are fun
and some are not. But every once in a
while, a game is created that not only
surpasses boundaries, but redefines
them. Thief and Thief II are truly
examples of this sort of game. May the
Hammer fall on the unrighteous!

Christopher Aynsley

The Top 50? Yikes, that was in
January's issue. I wonder what
you're going to make of the Top
100 when you get round to
reading it in nine months time...

PCPP 27

GAME BOY

Dreamcast

NEW TRICKS + TERRAIN

© 1999, 2000 Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Published and Distributed by Activision Publishing, Inc. Developed by Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Pro Skater 2 are trademarks of
Activision, Inc. Tony Hawk is a trademark of Tony Hawk. Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with the PlayStation® game console. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Licensed
by Nintendo. Game Boy and Game Boy Color are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. © 1 989, 1 998 Nintendo of America, Inc. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Sega Enterprises, LTD. 1 002235.997. AU

TOnV HRWK 5 T

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new tricks (Bluntslides, BS/FS Noseslides + Tailslides, Hurricanes, Heelflip
Varials, Melon Grabs, Airwalks, Judos, etc.) and new technology (Real-Time
Skatepark Editor, Create -A-Skater). Build a skatepark in your house. Then
shred it (the park, not the house). Build your own pro (mullet or not, you
decide). Then compete against the real ones. You’ll also find sick new terrain,
insane videos and a Career Mode where you earn cash money to move up in the
rankings. THPS2, taking you to levels that were once reserved for mere legends.

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DOWNLOAD THE TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER* 2
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AcliVisioN

YOUR CONNECTION TO THE INTERNET

Welcome to Server,
PCPP's venture into
the world of online
communication.

You may have
noticed that the
section appeared for
the first time last
month in what was
essentially a public
beta. Allow me to
now to formally
introduce the section
and myself. I've been
manning the Tech
section as Hugh's
occasional wingman,
and while I'm not
abandoning that area
entirely, my
emphasis will now be
on all things
connecting you to
the world.

Each month we'll let
you know what's
happening around
the net - stuff that's
not necessarily
game-related, but
we're not talking
share floats here.
We'll keep you
updated about
broadband and look
at what a particular
ISP can offer you.
You'll also be
presented with in-
depth features on
the people and
ideas that keep the
net interesting.
Come in, we think
you might like what
you find inside...
seb@next.com.au

Tech giants slam Napster

THE MP3 SWAPPING SITE GAINS SOME UNEXPECTED ALLIES

Your Support for Napster Can Make a Difference

There are many ways that you can help us continue to grow the world’s biggest
and best online music community.

Stay connected to the Napster community by running the Napster application
even when you're not actively searching for MP3s or communicating with other
community members. This is a simple, easy way to express your support for
person-to-person file sharing.

Support artists who support Napster. Let your favorite artists know that you
support Napster. Use Napster to discover new artists. Check out our Artists Pa ge
to learn more.

Let the major record companies know that you're a music fan and you support
Napster. Click on the Labels Pa ge to get their addresses or write an email that
we'll pass along for you.

Get political on the Con g ress Pa ge. You'll find an interactive form which you can
use to contact your local Congressional representatives directly by typing in your
zip code.

Go to the Forums to discuss issues with other members of the Napster music
community.

home I download I speak out I new artists I press room I help

■ A broad coalition of technology

and Internet companies are Piling
legal briefs that are bitterly critical of
August's court decision against Napster,
saying it could threaten the future of much
of the technology industry.

The parties involved, including the
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the
Digital Media Association (DiMA) and
NetCoalition, are careful to say that they are
not explicitly supporting either side in the
high-stakes lawsuit. But each group's
separate arguments go a
long way to support
Napster in its battle against
the Recording Industry
Association of America.

The CEA includes giants
such as Sony Electronics, Apple Computer,
Cisco Systems and hundreds of others
across the industry. DiMA is
composed of many of the
leading online music
companies, such as
Listen.com and EMusic.

NetCoalition is a US-based
lobbying group that includes
Yahoo, America Online,

Amazon.com and Excite@Home,
among others.

Several of the trade associations
contend that federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel
misapplied copyright law that protects
technologies with "substantial non-
infringing uses". If her decision is used as
precedent for other cases, it could threaten

development across the
consumer technology
sector, they say.

Patel's decision late
last month sided with
the record industry and
said it is likely Napster was
at least partly liable for
massive copyright infringement
on the part of its members. She
ordered that the music-swapping site
prevent copyrighted material from being
traded via its technology which would
essentially shut Napster down in its current

form. Napster was granted a stay of
injunction (see Server last month) until the
hearing. A court date has now been set -
the trial is scheduled to commence on
October 2, 2000.

The fact that a trial date has been set
suggests that the appeals court has not
agreed to Napster's motion to have the
RIAA's injunction against it thrown out
completely, which the software company's
lawyers requested on 18th August. If
Napster is unsuccessful in this motion the
final nails may be hammered into the music
swapping service's coffin this month.

30 PCPP

K*GRIND

The X-box: a digital VCR?

MICROSOFT EXPANDS ITS NEXT-GEN CONSOLE SPECS

Microsoft has apparently updated its X-box spec to provide

the console with digital VCR functionality. The revised
specification - which has been leaked from Microsoft's games
division - calls for an increase in the system's hard drive
capacity from 8Gb to 40Gb. This change is said to be not
simply a move with the times, but has been implemented
specifically to provide for digital VCR capabilities.

The leaked information entails that the X-box will
have the same kind of features thatTivo and ReplayTV
currently offer. These systems allow users to record like
a VCR, but also to watch a show not long after it has begun.

Due to Web-based TV listings such devices are even easier to
set up for recording than G-Code enabled VCRs, and best of all
they can be set up to do away with the commercials. As with the
Tivo and ReplayTV's services, in order to use the digital VCR
features Microsoft will require X-box users to subscribe to
Web-based TV listings. We'll keep you posted with further
developments and the official response to this leak.

K*GRIND FLIPS
INTO ISP MARKET

K*Grind has stepped
into the ISP market
following its high-
profile decision to
quit the entertainment
business. K*Grind
has licensed its Web
publishing software
and cable Internet
browser to Quadtel,
which plans to sell it
to ISPs. K*Grind's
software allows
content to be
accessed via WAP
phones, dialup
Internet connections
and broadband
Internet connections.

xjk * • u "(Hi Pt ^0- : A*

Home Support Products Aoct Tools Downloads About Us Contact Sttema

Broadband Access

iiNet's broadband solutions use cutting edge technology to deliver high-speed
low-latency Internet access. Broadband is ideal for business connections that desire
higher throughput, plus in the home to use multimedia technology such as streaming
audio and video.

iiNet's cable access product is the first Cable Internet service in Western Australia. We
are similarly pioneering wireless and other broadband technologies in conjunction with
our carrier company, iiTel.

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We offer a number of "add-ons" to our accounts. They allow you to upgrade your
account with extra features without the need to purchase a high-end business
solution. They provide the ideal way to give your small to medium organisation a
professional edge.

ISP Watch

MONTHLY SERVICE PROVIDER NEWS

■ Each month ISP Watch will give you important

information on a particular provider. To kick it off let's give
some info on a broadband access solution for our west coast brethren.

www.iinet.com.au

Perth ISP iiNet has more than doubled its user base in the past
year. The influx has come with competitive dialup pricing and the
rollout of cable access in Perth - a promise on which neither
Telstra nor Optus have been able to deliver. iiNet also has plans
to deliver ADSL using Telstra's exchanges in the near future.

iiNet's top dialup account is $33 per month with unlimited hours.
The plan includes a 'soft' 750Mb download limit, the penalty for
exceeding your allotted volume: "You may experience degraded
performance on your account". iiNet's cable access starts at $40
per month for the 500Mb Cable Home package and $100 gives
you double that limit on the Cable Express plan. However there's
currently no unlimited cable plan and the penalty for exceeding
your limit is monetary - not a slap on the wrist as with dialup.

Broadband Report

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH ADSL

Telstra ADSL @ www.telstra.com.au

Telstra has released its ADSL pricing to
strong criticism, in similar circumstances to
the launch of its cable Internet service.
Potential users are unhappy with the
restricted bandwidth and volume-based
pricing Telstra has introduced.

While ADSL can theoretically provide up
to 6Mbps high-speed access, Telstra has
restricted home access to 512Kbps downstream
and 128Kbps upstream transmissions. The
$73 per month Blast Off plan offers 256/64Kbps
and a 500Mb monthly download limit. The
unlimited volume plans. Freedom Standard
and Deluxe, cost $78 for256/64Kbps and
$89 for 512/128Kbps respectively. Telstra will
only make its 1.5Mbps/256Kbps high-speed
service available to business customers on its
Business Deluxe plan. Installation price
depends on the length of your contract; a
three month contract will set you back $399
but if you commit to 18 months the price
drops to $189. And in addition, if you're not
with Telstra for your long-distance calls
expect to pay a $16.50 premium on all plans.

Primus ADSL @ www.primus.com.au

Primus has also released pricing for its ADSL
services. Primus' Homejetand Bizjet ADSL
services provide either 256/64Kbps, or
1.5Mbps downstream and 256Kbps
upstream. The plans cost $69 for a
256/64Kbps service with a 300Mb monthly
download limit, and $110 for the
1.5Mbps/256Kbps connection with a 500Mb
download limit. Either plan can be provided
with no download limits for an additional $5
per month, and installation - including an
Alcatel ADSL modem - starts at $295 for a
three-month contract, reducing to $187 for
an 18-month contract. Like Telstra, Primus
sees ADSL as a point of loyalty and charges a
10% premium for customers not preselected
with the company for long distance calls.

ADSL pricing is under scrutiny by the
ACCC, which has issued a call for public
comment on digital line pricing. Currently
Telstra's wholesale price for ADSL is $63 for
256/64Kbps connections; the consumer
watchdog believes this price should be closer
to $36 per month.

PCPP 31

Diablo II Web Resources

IF THE GAME'S SALES ARE ANY INDICATION, THEN THESE SITES WILL BE
FLOODED WITH HITS IN THE COMING MONTHS

■ The internet is overflowing with

sites dedicated to Blizzard's

phenomenally popular RPG, making the task

Diablo II Realm
features some
really cool fan-
created art
(bottom)

of locating the good ones rather difficult.

But, being the altruistic folk that we are,
we've separated the wheat from the chaff to
bring you a detailed listing of the best Diablo
II web sites around.

www.blizzard.com/diablo2

Home of the Chaos Sanctuary - a
consolidated source of Diablo II information
and news, straight from the demon's mouth.
The official nature of the information posted
here makes it the most reliable, and the
comprehensive nature of the site makes the
Chaos Sanctuary one of
the few genuinely
useful official
game sites in
existence.

www.diabloii.net

Clearly the best unofficial Diablo II site,
Diabloll.net outshines even the likes of the
Chaos Sanctuary by virtue of the intimidating
volume of information it presents. Page
upon page of timely advice is accompanied
by intriguing anecdotes that enhance the
player's understanding of the subject matter
and serve to entertain at the same time. The
various forums are an invaluable source of
hints and tips, and the trading forum is
perfect for those looking to offload some
particularly valuable unique items. There's
even an auction forum allowing subscribers
to buy and sell exceptionally rare weapons
and suits of armour. Be sure to check out the
Hardcore Graveyard, where you can read
the tales of woe of unfortunate souls who
spent countless hours developing their
characters, only to lose them at the hands of
meddling siblings and chronic lag. Some
accounts are quite sad, but more than a few
are awfully amusing.

guildtimes.diabloii.net

Sister site to the incredible Diablo ll.net,
the Guild Times is the premier Diablo II
guild resource. Packed with anything and
everything guild related, this is the site to
go to if you are looking to join a guild,
would like to promote your own guild, or
wish to forge alliances with (or declare war
on) other guilds. The forums make
recruiting new members or contacting
existing ones a pretty straightforward affair,
and the guild site reviews are particularly
informative. This is also the best place for
those bearing a grudge against spineless
player killers to commission one of the
dozens of bounty hunting clans that
frequent the message boards.

tdl.diabloii.net

The other sister site of Diabloll.net, The Dark
Library is chock full of well-written fan
fiction regaling the visitor with the tales of
evil, honour and valour. Find solace in the
tales of valiant warriors and sleep soundly at
night, safe in the knowledge that those
strong of body and pure of heart are
continuing to keep the minions of the Lord
of Darkness at bay.

www.d2realm.com

Another excellent site, the Diablo II Realm
offers the latest news and some useful
downloadable utilities. However, the
greatest attraction of the Diablo II Realm is
its fantastic Fan Art Gallery. Depicting
dozens of sumptuous, fan-created
drawings, renders and collages, the gallery
showcases the works of some truly
talented individuals.

stonewolves.freeservers.com/index.html

The Stone Wolves are one of the few
Australian Diablo II clans. Although they
don't have a large number of members, all
their members are extremely active players.
As such, the Stone Wolves are a very close-
knit clan of intrepid adventurers who are
only too happy to welcome similarly
dedicated players into their pack.

32 PCPP

The Soviets are back -this time on American soil. And their mysterious mind-control technology is turning
Americans into mindless automatons. Take up arms for the Red, White and Blue-or just the Red. Red Alert 2’s
vast arsenal of land, sea and air units offer new levels of brain-busting strategy. Infiltrate with Terror
Drones. Crush 'em with Apocalypse Atomic Tanks. Light 'em up with Prism Can nons . Whatever your
allegiance, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 pushes the frontier of RTS gaming.

IRWI

THE INTERNET

ONLINE

www.winamp.com

The world's most
downloaded Mp3
player

www.napster.com

What the fuss is
all about...

•>.

www.mp3.com

A huge collection of
Mp3 related news
and resources

www.scour.net

The scour client is a
major competitor to
Napster, but also
works with other
media besides Mp3

Gnutella.wego.com

Download the
Gnutella client

www.imesh.com

A client very similar
to Gnutella

Digital Audio

AFTER STEALING HIS MUSIC, LARS ULRICH HAS

HUGH NORTON-SMITH...

■ Unlike the introduction of the tape,

CD orMiniDisc, the Mp3 phenomenon
can claim a genuine grass-roots heritage.
Originally developed by the Fraunhoffer
Institute in late 1997, Mp3 has already had a
genuinely revolutionary impact.

Mp3, which stands for Mpeg-1 Audio
Layer 3, is a compression system for music.
Basically, the Mp3 format helps reduce the
amount of bytes in a track, without hurting
the sound quality. How? By removing
extraneous audio data and superfluous
information from the original WAV file.

More specifically, Mp3 eliminates
redundant audio frequencies that cannot
be heard by the human ear.

The ultimate aim of Mp3 is to reduce a
CD to around a 10th of its original size
with minimal loss in sound quality. With
Mp3, a 40Mb .WAV or CD file can be
squashed into a tiny 4Mb of space. The
reduced size of Mp3 files makes their
distribution over the Internet very feasible.
Even dial-up users can download entire
songs in a matter of minutes or an entire
album in a couple of hours.

With the ever expanding size of
today's hard drives, Mp3 makes it quite
possible to store thousands of Mp3 files
on your computer. And by rigging up a
hefty pair of speakers to your soundcard,
you can convert your PC into a formidable
hi-fi system.

The opinions (not) expressed by
Metallica are not necessarily
the views of Camp Chaos
Entertainment, the producers
of this short film.

The following contains strong
language. Viewer discretion is

Mp3 files can be played through the
bundled Windows Media Player or a
specialist program like Winamp orSonique.
And, unlike other media formats, Mp3 uses
very few system resources during playback.
There are competing formats, yet none have
achieved the recognition of Mp3.

Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a
format developed by Microsoft, which
promises to beat Mp3 at its own game.
Developed recently, WMA has a far
superior method of compression than Mp3
- music can be compressed to a much
smaller size, while retaining the same
music quality. WMA has also garnered the
favour of industry types, as it implements a
rudimentary copyright verification
mechanism. However, it remains to be
seen if a proprietary format like WMA will
catch on, particularly considering the
established fanbaseand industry
acceptance of the Mp3 standard.

$200

ticket

+ $20

compact disc

+ $50

t “shirt (good!)

+$100

cock ring

Rich “ass [Metallica

HITMAN ON

The Digital Revolution

Much to the chagrin of the RIAA (Recording
Industry Association of America), the Mp3
file format has become hugely popular. All
their belated attempts to stamp out the
burgeoning Mp3 movement have only
served to publicise the phenomenon. For
instance, the RIAA has made a huge effort
to shutdown Napster and Mp3.com, both of
which offer commercial music for
download. Joining the fracas are Dr. Dre
and Metallica, who - to the disappointment
of their fans - have slapped multi-million
dollar lawsuits against Napster. Thanks to
daily media coverage of the Napster vs.
Metallica legal wrangling, just about
everyone knows that Napster allows for
easy trading of copyrighted music.

Until Napster arrived, searching for Mp3
files online was a nightmare. Who else but
the most fanatical music fans had the
patience to sift through dozens of broken

34 PCPP

UNDERGROUND

links,

mediocre ftp
search
engines
and IRC
(Internet
Relay Chat)
fora single
track?
Napster,
which went
online mid-1999,
changed all this. Within minutes of
installing the Napster client-server, users
can happily download as much as their
patience and ISP account allows. No Mp3
files are stored on the Napster-owned
servers. Rather, the Napster software
acts as a search engine, and connects
you directly to the PC from which you
are downloading.

Like most of these ideas, Napster was
the brainchild of a college student with a
high-speed connection, too much time and
a fascination with leading edge computing

technology. Shawn Fanning developed the
original Napster application and service in
January 1999 while a freshman at
Northeastern University, and operated the
first Napster server from his bedroom.
Fanning combined the practicality of an
Mp3 search engine with the community
features of IRC. The concept is simple: by
sharing your music files to the Internet you
can, in turn, have access to the wealth of
music stored by other users. At any one
time, Napster gives access to terabytes of
downloadable music, although the bulk of
this is largely repeated material.

Nutty Gnutella

Gnutella is another popular peer-to-peer
file-sharing program. Created by Justin
Frankel, the rogue programmer
responsible for Nullsoft and Winamp,
Gnutella has caused a huge stir. Within
hours of its open-source release, the
Gnutella client was removed from the
Nullsoft website as an 'unauthorised
project'. Frankel's company Nullsoft is fully

owned by AOL-TimeWarner, an
International conglomerate with interests
in preserving the media status quo. Not
surprisingly, Gnutella's completely
decentralised file-sharing capabilities were
viewed as a threat to their media empire.

One of the chief vulnerabilities of a
Napster-like system is its reliance on large
company-maintained servers. Gnutella
eliminates this by using a completely
distributed method of file searching.

What's particularly controversial is that
Gnutella allows the end user to share any
type of file. While Mp3 files are
unquestionably the most frequently
distributed files on the system, Gnutella is
also used for circulating DivX movies,
pirated software and 'exotic' pictures. It's a
system guaranteed to give any copyright
lawyer cold sweats.

Digital audio is the future. The music
industry can either maximise the
beneficial potential of this innovative
technology or lose their grip altogether.

It's an exciting time.

MP3

IS MP3 ILLEGAL?

Mp3 is merely an
audio compression
standard, so it is
not illegal. Like
many technologies,
it can be
implemented in
both legal and
illegal applications -
some may use it for
distributing
unlicensed music
material, while
other may make use
the technology for
completely
legitimate uses.

WANT TO
SEE YOUR
COMPUTER

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you to sell your laptop. Simply log on
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EBI|

THE INTERNET UNDERGROUND

The Emulation Scene

LIKE MOST OLD-SCHOOL GAMERS, YOU PROBABLY HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF BEATING
M. BISON IN STREET FIGHTER II, BLOWING UP GEOMETRIC TANKS IN BATTLEZONE AND
SMASHING THROUGH THAT LAST BLOCK ON LEVEL 61 OF ARKANOID. OR YOU MAY
REMEMBER OPERATION WOLF, DEFENDER AND TEMPEST WITH MISTY EYES. IF YOU'VE GOT
A HANKERING FOR OLD SCHOOL GAMES, EMULATION ON YOUR PC IS THE ONLY SOLUTION.
BUT, BEFORE YOU TRY AND JAM AN OLD ATARI 2600 CARTRIDGE INTO YOUR FLOPPY DISK
DRIVE, LET HUGH NORTON-SMITH EXPLAIN...

ONLINE

www.swapoo.com

ROM Search Engine

® Swapoo!

www.ultrahle.com

UltraHLE HomePage

$ (IIMIU $

www.mame.net
MAME Home Page

www.zophar.net

Zophar's Domain

www.zophar.net

Zophar's Domain

■ Emulators got their name because

they force your computer to
emulate (obviously) different types of
hardware. An emulator on your
system allows your PC to
imitate the original
system, and thus play
games that were intended
for the original system.

Emulation doesn't involve
rewriting old games to
work on your computer;
rather, it makes your
computer play the actual
code from the original
game. Thanks to the vast
number of emulators
available, a Windows PC
can emulate almost every type of
computer platform, ranging from ancient
arcade boards to the Macintosh and

Read Only Marne

Emulation is made feasible through the brute
power of modem PCs. A PI 1 1-600, for
instance, is infinitely more
powerful than an Atari 2600
system. Of course, a cutting-edge
PC isn't required for emulating old
arcade games. However, if you intend to
run a Nintendo 6 A or PlayStation
emulator at a decent framerate, a

beefy rig is a must - The Beast,
anyone? Generally, the newer
the emulated system, the
harder it is to emulate. There
are many reasons for this, but
the most principal limitations are
the lack of processor power and
the enormous complexity of modern
microprocessor design.

But, emulators are rather pointless
without the original games. Copies of the
game are made, and are known as 'ROM' files.
A ROM is a verbatim image of the original
game code, and is used in conjunction with a
machine-specific emulator. The legality of
ROMs is rather a questionable grey area:
while emulating a system itself is quite legal,
the ROM image often remains the
copyrighted intellectual property of the
publisher. Even if the game is fifteen years
old, and isn't making any money for the
publisher, the ROM is still technically illegal
to own. However, even if you own the original
media (cartridge/CD), ROMs remain a
contentious legal issue. Despite this - or
perhaps because of it - ROMs are available
from a variety of sources, including many
underground websites.

advanced console systems. In fact, there is
even an emulator available for the
infamous Tl Speak and Spell!

Unfortunately, emulators aren't always
perfect. They are enormously complex pieces
of software, and most emulators cannot
completely replicate the abilities of the
original system. With some emulators, the
imperfection may be relatively minor,
including small graphical or sound glitches.
Other emulators may have difficulties playing
certain games or, more seriously, may lack
important features such as sound.

36 PCPP

EXCELLENT EMULATORS

Arcade: MAME

The touchstone upon which all other
emulators are measured and found
wanting, MAME is able to emulate
countless different arcade games, and
over 1,000 different arcade boards.

MAME, the Multi Arcade Machine Emulator is
an open-sourced project, whose stated goal is
"to preserve historical games from oblivion."
Most importantly, MAME can play Street
Fighter II: Championship Edition...

(And Mr Do! - Harry).

Nintendo64: UltraHLE

Although there are now numerous Nintendo
64 emulators, Ultra High Level Emulator was
the first to run commercial games properly.
It even runs Goldeneye. Sadly, UltraHLE
requires a 3dfx card, although future
updates are expected to use OpenGL. Other
N64 Emulators worth checking out include
NEmu and Corn.

PlayStation: Bleem!

Currently available for both the PC and Sega
Dreamcast, Bleem is an enormously popular

commercial PlayStation
emulator. If you have a Direct3D
compatible 3D videocard, Bleem!
can enhance your old
PlayStation games - instead of
the usual 320x200 PlayStation
resolution, games can be run at a
full 640x480 with better texturing and
richer detail. Worth checking out,
particularly if you have a decent library
of PlayStation titles.

NeoGeo: NeoRage

The best NeoGeo emulator out there, Neo
Rage lets you enjoy all of the arcade
classics at full speed on any Pentium 166 PC. Also
includes extensive joystick support, enhanced
resolutions and near-100% compatibility. A must
have, especially for fans of archaic 2D fighters.

Super Nintendo: Zsnes

Most will agree that the SNES was the seminal
16-bit console, with epic games like Super

Mario World, Final Fantasy, the immortal Super
Street Fighter II Turbo and StarFox. Zsnes, the
foremost SNES emulator, can play most games
and is even able to emulate the cartridge-
based SuperFX chipset.

NES: NESticle

Despite the unattractive name, NESticle is the
most capable NES emulator available. Although
it uses DOS, a Windows 'frontend' is available.
There are a huge variety of ROMs available for
the NES, making NESticle one of the most
popular emulators.

Atari 2600: Stella

The Atari 2600 Video Computer System,
introduced in 1977, was the most popular home
videogame system of the early 1980s. Stella, an
open-source multi-platform VCS emulator, allows
you to enjoy all of the hundreds of Atari games
available. Excellent compatability.

Sega Megadrive: GeneCYST

GeneCYST is the first 68k emulator that
runs almost all Megadrive/Genesis games
flawlessly. Genem is also worth considering.

Streetfighter 2:
Champion Edition and
Ghosts 'n Goblins

COWS GO MOO. !
CATS GO MEOW.!
GAMES GO
CHEAP.

eBay is the home of great deals. Why? huge range of items to choose from. So
Because you can drive your own bargain whatever your heart desires, log on and
with its easy auction style format and chances are you'll find itatebay.com.au

THE INTERNET UNDERGROUND

ONLINE

http://www.divx-
digest.com
The Bible of DivX
Information. News,
trailers, step-by
step guides and
many utilities. The
page includes a link
to FlaskMpeg.

http://divx.ctw.cc/
Official DivX
homepage.

Includes PC, Mac
and BeOS codecs.

http://www.project

mayo.com

The heir to DivX:
from the original
team who hacked
the DivX codecs,
ProjectMayo will be
completely free of
Microsoft-owned
code. The designers
claim that it will
feature a

significantly faster
decode engine.

http://www.fm4.org/

main.html

FreeMpeg4 provides
you with info about
current DivX releases.

IjEvnSRSQQlSK

http://www.3ivx.com

Another codec
showing some promise.

DivX ;-) and Mpeg-4:

The Future of Digital Video

HUGH NORTON-SMITH INVESTIGATES THE RAPIDLY SPREADING NEW VIDEO CODEC

■ The battle over digital rights is

welling up on the Internet. With the
commotion overMp3s and Napster gaining
widespread media coverage, a more
insidious form of media piracy is about to
hit the mainstream. A new video technology
is floating through the computer
underground that holds the promise of
doing for movies what Mp3 has done for
digital music - and the scene is flourishing.
Anyone with a high-speed connection, a
relatively speedy PC and the hacked DivX
codec can now download almost any
recently release movie in a matter of hours.

It has Hollywood running for cover.

Background notes

While perennially popular in Asia (and
Haymarket), Video CDs also have a
hardcore enthusiast following on the
Internet. For some time now, devotees of
the Video CD scene have been able to
download entire films from the Internet,
albeit at reduced picture quality. The main
problem, however, is that Video CDs look
terrible. The two formats used (generally
ASF and MPEG) are marred by horrendous
pixellation, sub-standard framerates and
lo-fi audio. With the proliferation of DVD,
the poor quality of these formats became
unacceptable. Enter DivX.

DivX - which has no connection to the
defunct DivX 'self-destructing' DVD format
promoted by the Circuit City retail chain - is
the work of 'I33t hAxOrs' who go by the
pseudonyms "MaxMorice" and "Gej". DivX
uses a modified version of Microsoft's
Mpeg-4 Version 3 implementation.
Essentially, DivX uses the Mpeg-4 method
of compressing a video stream used in
conjunction with Mp3 audio. This allows
for high quality video and audio, allowing
the compression of entire films with
minimal picture degradation. Using the
advanced features of DivX, most films can
be stored on a single CD, with picture
quality comparable to DVD. (The
screenshots really don't do it justice - DivX
must be seen to be believed.)

To play DivX files, obtaining the DivX
codec is necessary. This will allow Microsoft
Windows Media Player 7.0 to read the encoded
file. Playback at full framerate requires a
relatively fast processor (at least 400MHz).

Home cinema

Using the DivX codec and FlaskMpeg, anyone
with a DVD drive can create high quality videos
on their home PC. The process is relatively
simple, although there is a definite art to
maximising picture quality whilst minimising
the size. FlaskMpeg, a freeware ripper/encoder
readily available on numerous underground
websites, uses the DecSS algorithm to rip the
raw DVD file to disk. FlaskMpeg then proceeds
to transform this .vob file into a DivX-
compatible .avi file. The DVD ripping process
generally takes about three hours, while
encoding the ripped file to the DivX format can
take up to an entire day. Obviously, this
depends on the speed of the computer. A
decent speed DVD-ROM and a fast processor
are essential. If under 700Mb, the resulting
.avi file can then be burnt and stored on CD.

The Future?

At the moment, the DivX scene is much
like the Mp3 scene in late 1997: nascent,
yet expanding - not to mention a legal
minefield just waiting to explode. Right
now, however, DivX remains largely for
the tech-geeks on fat Internet pipes.
Indeed, the process of copying (or
'ripping') a movie from DVD is still
complicated, and there are no consumer-
friendly programs to create DivX files as
yet.

It is also worth noting, however, that
the Mp3 scene was just as complicated
back in 1997, until more user-friendly
programs like WinAmp started to appear
on the market. If you think that Napster
and Mp3 are causing a fuss, then wait
another six months.

38 PCPP

Actively pursue success

Coming soon...

HARDWARE ■ SOFTWARE ■ INTERNET ■ BRAINWARE

100% Australian

active

total coverage 24 x seven

REVIEWS

SKILLS

Hardware and Software - we
make sense for your dollars

Get the most from your tools
with our easy-to-use guides

ANALYSIS

We analyse the future, so you
can deal with today’s IT issues

BRAINS

Work smarter by relaxing
we detail the best in downtime

Australia’s most relevant and focused PC experts
in one monthly magazine and on one site. . .

Your total 24 x seven experience

Get involved with Australia’s first PC-only magazine for the way you work, think and relax:

Advertising

Editorial

Kylie Taylor-Williams

John Stevenson

(02)9699 0330

john_stevenson@next.com.au

> f SPOONMAN'S
* LAN DIARY

BLAM - REDLANDS COMPUTER GAMING
ASSOCIATION

Location: Alexandra Hills (Brisbane)

Dates: 7/10/2000
Players: 40
Cost: $8

Web: www.rcga.net

Eight dollars is certainly not bad value for a LAN, even if it is
only ten hours. Like most LAN events you bring your own
PC, plug it in and away you go. Food and drink can be
bought at reasonable prices so a good value day of fun can
be almost guaranteed.

LGA

Location: Gold Coast
Dates: 15/10/2000
Players: TBA
Cost: $7- $17

Web: www.daikyo.com.au/lga

For anyone living in the Gold Coast looking for a very
structured event this could be foryou.They run several serious
competitions for all major FPS games and won't allow file
sharing after the first two hours to ensure a very fast network.
The venue has automatic locking doors so once you're in,
you're in, they do however open for dinner where you can get
a pizza for $6 or other assorted snackage.

FRAGFEST

Location: French's Forest
Dates: 3/11/2000 - 5/11/2000

Players: TBA
Cost: FREE

Web: www.fragfest.com.au

Amazingly enough this party runs for three days and still will
not cost you a cent. This could only be described as the deal
of the century. FragFest runs every two months as well, so if
you miss one check back on their website and go to the next.
They will be selling food at the event, so you won't have to
pack lunches (although you can if you like) which will be at
usual prices. Whatever the price though, then event is free,
you can't go wrong.

GOT A PARTY?

There are many, many parties each month, so if you'd like to
draw some special attention to yours then contact
spoonman@hunterlink.net.au with the details.

Please try and give two months' notice.

For submissions, email spoonman@next.com.au

Battletech 3025

THE ROBOTS GO ONLINE...

Kesmai Corporation's BattleTech

3025 will soon be put through its
paces in a 10,000 player closed beta test.

The massively multiplayer title is seen by
many as a vastly improved sequel to the
aging BattleTech: Solaris - a game which
predates Activision's MechWarrior2.
BattleTech 3025 will hybridise the
action and strategy genres,
allowing more than 50,000
players to join one of five Inner
Sphere Houses: Davion, Kurita,

Liao, Marik or Steiner. As a
representative of one of their chosen
House, the player will fight at the helm of a
hulking BattleMech as part of a concerted
effort to subjugate the members of rival
Houses. Victory in battle will yield the
territory of the vanquished.

The ultimate goal will of course be to
dominate -if not rule- the InnerSphere itself
As the player moves up the ranks, strategy
and politics will play a greater role in the
proceedings, with the opportunity for
betrayal sure to present itself.

BattleTech 3025 was originally
scheduled fora Q3 2000 launch,
but delays have seen this date well and truly
surpassed. As such, Kesmai hope to
complete the game by Q1 2001. Additional
information can be found on the official web
site located atwww.battletech3025.com.

40 PCPP

Dudes Arcade

A LAN RACING EVENT THAT MEANS BUSINESS

Ultima Online 2:
another EA.com title

WANT

THOUSANDS !

FOR YOUR
EQUIPMENT? I

THOUSANDS OF BUYERS, THAT IS.

Looking to sell your equipment? eBay So if you've something to sell go to
has thousands of buyers making it the Australia's leading online marketplace
best place to sell your goods. ebay.com.au

U-3 JlJy.COM. AU

Australia's leading online marketplace.

Majestic

EA.COM'S INAUGURAL GAME UNVEILED

■ At an Electronic Gaming Summit in California, Electronic
Arts finally unveiled its secret online project. Majesty, a
massively multiplayer mystery suspense thriller set in the present, will
make its debut on the EA.com gaming portal. Although very little is
known about the game itself, EA President and COO, John Riccitello,
stated that "Majestic will be the first PC game I've seen that will fax or
phone you. It will actively interact with the player at unprecedented
levels”. Majestic is expected to
launch in late 2001, following the
estimated Xmas 2000 launch of the
EA.com portal.

hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Furthermore, if your one of the rare few
whom can surpass the speed of the "Dr."

(Jim) behind the wheel, then your stay at the
Dudes Arcade is on the house!

Edward Fox

home.iprimus.com.au/dudes

For bookings, phone Jim on (02) 93182695

or (02) 96986710.

■ The dudes are here! Dudes Arcade

is a wicked new business running out
of a house in downtown Surry Hills. When
you first step through the door, you're
immediately assaulted by rows of PCs lining
the walls, all with the one intent: to drain the
life-blood from any virtual motorists who
happen to get caught in their web. You'll
understand what I mean after your first visit,
and you happen to glance at the clock and
realise that six hours have already passed!

That's right, the eloquently named
"Dudes Arcade" is the latest offering in the
fast growing world of LAN-tertainment.

Let's face it, anyone who's ever attended the
average LAN-day is fully aware of the
hassle/headache in lugging that bloody PC
half-way round the world. Additionally, if
you're lucky enough to own a 21" piece of
gaming luxury, you'll be unlucky enough to
score yourself a hernia trying to move the
bastard. Well, with Dudes Arcade, you
can forget all that crap, 'cause
the machines
are rearing
and ready
to go.

Some of the games on offer include:
Grand Prix 3, Need For Speed: High Stakes,
NFS 2: Special Edition, Carmadgeddon 1&2
and Rally Masters. The systems are all Plll-
667MHz, Voodoo3/3000 AGP graphics,
with 17" & 19" monitors. Oh
yeah! And to top it all off,
you get all this LAN-mania
madness for only 8 bucks an

WVM i°l ence * n th e media has been an
mam issue for longer than any of us can
remember. The subject has been with society
since before computer games, but in the last
ten years, “games as the violence pariah”
has been the popular cry of conservatives
everywhere. We are astonished at how the
issue is presented so simplistically both in
and outside the industry: either games are
the scourge of society or completely
innocent, harmless fun.

THE FIRST in fl neu SERIES of debates kicks off

UITH R LOOK AT A FIOST COnTEnTIOUS ISSUE

To fill in some of the grey areas and exorcise
some personal demons, we brought together
some of the great minds in the PC PowerPlay
family: Agata Budinska, John Dewhurst, Ed Fox,
Christian Read, Brett Robinson, March Stepnik,
Mike Wilcox and David Wildgoose.

first Reunions

P1ARCH: I think the issue has been blown out of
proportion. It has been reduced to accusations
that violent games like Quake have caused
events like Columbine. Then you get people in
the games industry saying, “No they don’t”, in
response to these accusations and that’s as far
as it gets. There’s no intelligent debate or
discussion about violence in games having

ANY effect whatsoever on people. I get
frustrated with that.

DRUID: You automatically think of the
sensationalist, tabloid reporting of it, that these
games are training our kids to become killers.
AGATA: I cringe and think, “Oh, they’re looking
for that old excuse again.” People are too afraid
to take responsibility for raising their children.
BRETT: More than anything the issue highlights
the inadequacy of our legal system in dealing
with classification of violent games. Violent
games have certainly become a societal scapegoat.
CD: If you are going to design a game with a
violent element then you will do that but games
aren’t designed to BE violent. Games are designed
around a theme, not necessarily violence.
CHRISTlRfl: Sure. My opinion of violence is this:

42 PCPP

Gominc nflTURt

30HI1: Despite the stigma of violence being a bad
thing, what makes violence such a popular
element of these games?

HIKE: Because you can live out a fantasy, like in
Half Life.

CD: Exactly, you can participate in things that
you would never normally be able to do without
being thrown in gaol.

DRUID: But violence isn’t why Half-Life is such a
good game...

CD: No.

DRUID: Otherwise, Kingpin or Soldier of Fortune
would be even better.

AGATfl: The aim of the game is not to kill anyone.
P1ARCH: Violence has only recently been used as
an effective tool in a game. It’s always been a
case of shooting shit for the sake of it - it’s the
thrill, whereas now I think the industry is
beginning to mature a bit.

(HRISTIAn: Torment is an example of a different
kind of game.

PIARCH: It’s refreshing to not have to use violence.
]0HI1: Yeah, if you listen to the Black Isle guys,
the most rewarding character in Torment is one
that’s high in charisma, wisdom or intelligence.
It’s heavily weighted to a narrative experience
rather than an action one.

DRUID: But in Torment, when you’re having
those battles with say Ravel, it Just wouldn’t
have been the same if it was through dialogue -
if you didn’t have to face those hordes of
creatures along the way and survive.

(HRISTIAIl: But that’s not the point, it’s a very rare
game that has an overall philosophical
underpinning and it develops thematic structures.
DRUID: I thought they complemented each other.
(HRISTIAn: And it's cool to beat the hell out of a Trigit.

THC RORAUTV Of SLAV1G

30HI1: It's easier to make a straight-up shooter than other
games. Is that why violence is so prevalent in gaming?
DRUID: If you go back to the very first games, they're
all about shooting things. Look at Space Invaders.
30HI1: I think it's also apart of the market, they
want violence.

CD: It sells.

Yes, video games are violent. Why? Because
people like it. We don’t need to hide from it,
just ACCEPT it. As far as a causal link between
violence on TV, games, movies, comic books
and ANYTHING in real life, I completely disagree.
PIARCH: But the issue is whether it has an affect
on people’s behaviour...

CD: Well, I ’ve played a lot of violent games in my
gaming career and never felt the urge to go out
and shoot a bunch of my schoolmates. Having said
that, I’ve played a heck of a lot of racing games
and that must have had some affect on me
because I plan to race next year. So I don’t know. . .
(HRISTIAIl: Not such a good argument then...
(general laughter)

CD: I think gaming is something aligned with the
youth of the world and people worry about
young, impressionable minds.

30HI1: So is the stigma attached to violence in
gaming justified at all?

CD: I couldn’t say it was black and white but on
the whole, no it’s not.

(HRISTIAn: Yeah, there’s terrible violence in
gaming, you don’t turn on your television and
watch Friends to see Monica get a chaingun
and blow Chandler’s face off. . .

CD: Though you wish sometimes!

(HRISTIAn: ...your kids generally can’t consume
that sort of horrible violence.

AGATft: By the same token, with TV there’s violence
on the news and in movies, that’s readily available.

DIAR(H: For me the question is more to what effect
is violence used? Is it used as filler, is it the
crux of the game, is that why people play it?
DRI/ID: Firing guns is a really easy thing for
programmers to simulate, much easier than
writing convincing dialogue.

CD: But in Deus Ex. . . if they decided not to have
anyone fire a gun, it wouldn’t be the same
game - it’d be Thief. . . (laughs)

DRUID: You can do the first mission of Deus Ex
without firing a gun.

CD: But you have to fire some type of weapon.
DRUID: You can use a baton.

PIARCH: But that’s still violent.

30HI1: It took a long time for a different version of
the firstperson game to come along, like Thief.

It’s a different game in
terms of violence.

(HRISTIAIl: I think it’s contextual. You put on
a game and you generally know that you’re
going to get a concentrated dose of ludicrous
violence if you buy a ludicrously violent game.
RAR(H: Sure, but we’re seeing this from an adult
perspective - what about younger people who
don’t necessarily have the faculties to discern
that, they’re more impressionable.

DRUID: That’s the tabloid media perception, that
only kids who play violent games can be
violent and dangerous.

DRUID: Well, what is violence? Is it just shooting stuff?
Is Doom violent? It's so abstract.
rnAR(H: What about Quake III?

DRUID: I think action is a better word for it than
violence since it's so cartoony.

BRCTT: It's far more focussed on reflexes and manual
dexterity than on inflicting violence on others
30HA: Well, is context of violence important then?
(HRISTIAIl: I think that basically context is the only thing
that gives you an excuse. Take Soldier of Fortune.
Personally I am far more offended by Soldier of
Fortune, which is basically this right-wing hideous
gun nut game...

CD: A redneck rampage.

(HRISTIAIl: ...Kill anything that's not white is basically
the subtext of the game. Compare that to Quake,
where you're shooting ludicrous monsters, or Half-
Life or anything like that.

DRUID: With Soldier of Fortune, I think the whole racist
thing is far more offensive than the fact that you can
shoot someone in the stomach and see their entrails.

PCPP 43

FEATURE

JQHI1: Sure the responsibility lies with parents but
shouldn't we be legislating...

DRUID: Parents need classification so that they CAN
be responsible.

HIKE: It's like jimmy and Joey dragging their Mum to
the shop saying, "We want this" and mum says, "Looks
okay to me" but she has no idea what the content is.
AGATA: I think parents should take the time to find out
what the contents of a game are.

EFFECTS

P1ARCH: Despite the media, isn't violence in games
something we should be concerned about?

CHRISTIAN There's not a lot of fire in the argument. If
you say that some child killed another and was
playing Frogger at the time. . .

P1ARCH: But now we know that the Sun doesn't revolve
around the Earth...

DOHA: Is it a general consensus here that violence has
no effect on gamers?

MARCH: I think it does.

DRUID: You can't say that it has no effect. We receive
so much information everyday and everything has

CHRISTIAI1: It's that casual brutality that makes me take
a step back.

DOHA: Is that an issue in the media and for gamers in
general? Is context important?

CHRISTIRH: As soon as it starts cutting close to social
issues, that's when you take notice of the violence.

CLASSIFICATIOA

DOHA: Is that a worry when it comes to children who
aren't as socially aware of what is acceptable?
Because something might not be violent but be
highly offensive in a moral sense.

CHRISTIAN Very true. I think it's up to society to decide

ns soon ns it stmts cumns close to socirl issues,

THnT'S UIHED VOU TRKE nOTICE OF THE UIOLERCE

what kids see, but I don't want adult viewing matter
in a game taken away from me because it might
upset a ten year old. If a parent doesn't want a ten
year old to see this, turn off the computer. If a parent
doesn't want their child to read something, take the
book away. Don't punish me because of this moray.
JOHn: Material that is appropriate for you or me is not
necessarily appropriate fora ten year old.

MARCH: Why isn't it appropriate for a ten year old?
CHRISTinn: That's opening up a big can of worms.

30HA: Well, why do we have PG films, why do we have
M films - that's taken for granted.

AGATA: But does anyone actually follow them?

MARCH: I don't think classification's that effective really.
DRUID: MA 15+ for games is not a restricted category
anyway, it's just advisory.

DOHA: Whereas R would be enforceable.

CHRISTIAA: How many R rated games are there?

DRUID: None, it's not a classification.

AGATA: I think it should be up to the individual. If it's to
do with a child, it should be up to the parent because
classification is useless when it comes to violence.

an effect. However it's a difficult thing to gauge what
kind of effect.

CHRISTIAA: You can't pick a clear behavioural link. Monkey
see, monkey doesn't do. It doesn't work like that.

DOHA: So, has anyone been offended by the violence
in games?

CHRISTIAA: I wouldn't say offended.

ED: Turned off is better. Probably Kingpin. The platform
of that game is: "I am extremely violent, buy me."

■Bl

SOLDIER OF FORTUnE

VERDICT: GUILTY

The combination of dubious morals and extreme
violence make this a worry in anyone’s book.

KinGPin

VERDICT: GUILTY

Carefree gun-slinging in a hip setting is a
volatile mix.

THIEF

VERDICT: NOT GUILTY

The unique focus on stealth with a well defined

narrative balances out the violence.

44 PCPP

QUAKE III

HALF LIF£

conclusion

The range of the debaters' opinions, and the subtle
differences between them, make it clear that this is
no simple issue. Many fear the disappearance of
their favourite action titles; others fear the effects
on younger minds. We are still at the very beginning
of understanding and effectively legislating for
violence in games. It will be a number of years
before the creativity of games developers is not in
danger while adult material remains out of the
hands of children. More open and objective
discussion is needed between industry and
government to achievement these essential goals.

DAUID: r ve stopped playing a game because it was
too violent - Soldier of Fortune. I think that's the key
point, comparing games to films and TV, the very
nature of games is the interactivity. It has more of an
effect because you are in control, but after a while
you say: "No, I don't want to fire the gun."

30HR: We talk about kids but aren't there enough
gaming adults with sense in their heads to justify an
R classification for games like Soldier of Fortune?
CHRISTIM): Just remember that classification really
messes with creative content...

DAUID: Soldier of Fortune wouldn't get made if there
was an R classification. There would be so few sales,
it wouldn't be commercially viable.

VERDICT: MISTRIAL

This classic of the genre is full to the back teeth
with gruesome deaths - but it’s obviously fantasy.

30HR: So it's an industry thing.

PlflRCH: What sort of message are we getting out
there? That we use violence to get somewhere?
BRETT: It appeals to that basic human desire to be the
best, to rule.

PlflRCH: But what sort of an ideal is that.

30HR: But that's games, isn't it?

PlflRCH: Is there a common denominator here that we
can all agree on?

30HR: I don't think so. I think a lot of opinions are
quite different.

AGflTA: But everyone plays different games too, so
what we'd like to see in games is very different.

30Hn: Alright, we'll leave it there. Thanks everyone.

VERDICT: NOT GUILTY

Made use of terrifying aliens and a scary plot.

Not particularly gory despite the vast arsenal.

VERDICT: NOT GUILTY

This action game is more a sport than anything

else. More light-hearted than gruesome.

YET TO BE
CLASSIFIED

From the Creator of

WIZARDRY® V, VI, AND VII

D.W. BRADLEY

AcIiyisioH

Wizards & Warriors is a trademark of Heuristic Park, Inc. © 2000 Heuristic Park, Inc. Published and distributed by Activision. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc.
Wizardry is a registered trademark of 1 2591 90 Ontario, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

1 -

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Encounter over 100 NPCs, battle 350
different characters and creatures,
wield weapons and cast
a myriad of magic spells.

Create a party of six adventurers from 15
different professions. Utilize 3 oo
inventory items, including
customizable pieces.

An RPG as Vast as Legend Itself

In an enchanted medieval realm known
as the Gael Serran, an evil Pharaoh has
overcome a curse and returned to wreak havoc.
Only the legendary Mavin Sword —
a blade forged of twin metals,
one cursed by evil, the other blessed
by the divine — has the strength
to bring his defeat.

Can you uncover the mysteries of the
Sword before terror reigns?

Over % 00 hours of gameplay with:

Embark on over 100 quests, mini quests
and adventures in 200 hours of
gameplay, battling in real-time
and turn-based combat.

• 45 different environments • 3 o skills and 15 stats
• 60 traits and 8 attributes • 10 races and 15 professions
• 150 character and 900 possible party combinations • 6 spell books and 120 spells

PREVIEW

Obi Wan

JOHN DEWHURST IS JIMMY SMITS' BODY DOUBLE IN EPISODE TWO,
SO, WHEN IT CAME TO DIGGING UP THE DIRT ON LUCASARTS'

JEDI KNIGHT SEQUEL, HE WAS THE ONLY MAN FOR THE JOB.

DETAILS

I 48 PCPP

bi-Wan Kenobi. We have known
him as a Jedi Master and a
Padawan. Remembered fondly as the
Jedi who sacrificed himself for Luke
Skywalker's escape from the Death Star
and a good-natured tag-along to Qui-
Gon Jinn. An important figure? You
betcha. At this stage in the first trilogy,
Obi-Wan is the most exciting character
in the minds of Star Wars fans and
certainly the most bankable for
developers. Obi-Wan is a big title, make
no mistake about it - and Lucas is
pulling out all the stops.

This is an important game in the
LucasArts Star Wars franchise. Touted as the
sequel to Jedi Knight, which is only just in
living memory (John is four years old - Ed), it
has interest from the older Star Wars fans.
Being set in and around the events of The
Phantom Menace, the game also has the
young bloods baying. On another level, it's
the first LucasArts game based around the
new trilogy that wasn't rushed out the door
upon release of Episode One (read cash-in).
If LucasArts is able to deliver again what so

UBIQUITOUS FORCE

Rather than using a selection of preset
keys to activate your force powers in
Obi-Wan, they are instead accessed via
a single Force key that is used in
conjunction with normal movements.
Thus a force jump is merely a normal
jump with the Force key held. This is
sure to integrate force abilities more
naturally into the control of Obi-Wan
as well as make frantic battles that
much easier.

many gamers loved in their games of the
90s, then Obi-Wan will be the first sign.

Keep the faith

LucasArts is at pains to make it clear that
Obi-Wan is definitely not - like The Phantom
Menace - which was a game version of the
movie. According to Production Manager,
Reeve Thompson, "The storyline of the
movie acts as an outline for the game. That
is, it takes place during the same time period
as the film. The game provides a very
different experience for the player. They will
become involved with new adventures,
learn more about the Obi-Wan character
(one of the most central heroes in the Star
Wars series) and grow with the character
from Padawan learner to Jedi Knight."

The missions in the game follow the basic
story and at times let you take part in major
events: you must to find a way off the
Federation battlecruiser at the beginning and
reach Naboo to help the princess. There are
other missions that take place "between"
events in the movie. This will give a clearer
view of Obi-Wan and arguably some insights
into his character. Your journey through the

catacombs up to the royal palace atTheed is
an entire level, while in the movie this journey
was implied. Other missions in Obi-Wan
include sneaking through a battle droid camp
in the swamps on Naboo, battling Sith agents
in the streets of Coruscant and of course a
showdown with Darth Maul fora finale!

Thompson states: "We've had some
license to create new story elements in Obi-
Wan, and while the game does remain
faithful to the movie plot, I think people will
feel like they are getting a new experience
when they play the game. The game focuses
entirely on Obi-Wan and provides the player
with an expanded insight into his thoughts
and experiences on the events of the film.
Since he wasn't the main character in the
film and he wasn't on screen most of the
time, we were able to take artistic license
with the story to keep it fresh and
interesting while adding a variety of new
elements (additional new quests, new
characters, new enemies, etc)."

Putting it in perspective

While in previous Dark Forces games, the
player had an opportunity to choose a

PCPP 49

PREVIEW

NO NUMBERS

firstperson or thirdperson perspective, Obi-
Wan has a fixed thirdperson perspective. The
reason for this choice is basically the light
sabre. Thompson explains: "As a key goal,
we are working on delivering a new level of
Jedi experience - including the distinctive
Jedi moves and more flexible lightsabre
controls and movements. The thirdperson
camera should give the best balance and
provide the player with greater control. My
experience has been that when using the
lightsabre, most people - myself included -
played Jedi Knight in thirdperson mode."

The LucasArts team have put a lot of
effort into improving control of the light
sabre - arguably the sweetest bait for
potential Jedi gamers. They've come up with
the Glyph system, which places the control
of the light sabre with the mouse. Once the
attack button is held, movements of the
mouse logically initiate similar actions in the
sabre. So a push up on the mouse gives a
high slash; a circular motion will give a

Rather than the usual HUD with numbers
displaying details like health, LucasArts
has gone for a graphic display in Obi-
Wan. You'll see an outline of your
character on screen, with a green body
and a blue surrounding ring. The green
represents your health, the blue your
force powers. As you take damage the
green will fade; likewise as you use up
your force, the blue fades. The aim is to
give a more accurate representation of
battle rather than a bacta tank economics
exercise. Obi Wan's force will gradually
restore over time.

spinning attack; a downward motion gives a
low attack. There are eight Glyph
movements currently in the game. The aim is
to offer an unprecedented level of control
that is more intuitive than anything seen
previously in this style of game. For those
who don't have the patience to come to
grips with this, there will be a traditional Jedi
Knight control option available.

To further help with control of your
character in close combat, there is a "lock-
on" feature where you stay facing your
enemy throughout a battle. We've seen this
in console titles such as Zelda: The Ocarina
of Time. This will help make the challenging
duels more than just a constant run-around.
It will also give Obi-Wan to chance to use
flashy moves like various rolls, aerial flips
and force jumps, while maintaining a focus
on the enemy at hand.

If you need something a little less
cerebral, there are of course other weapons
at the player's disposal: theTusken Gaderffi
stick, the Naboo S-5 security blaster CR-2
Naboo basic blaster, the senate guard rifle,
ion grenades, the battle droid blaster and
theTM-29 battle droid sniper rifle. These are
available throughout the game, but as a Jedi
you would naturally want to stick with the
trusty sabre much of the time. If the Glyph
system works as intended, the lightsabre
will definitely see a lot of use.

Forcematch

As you'd expect, force powers return in Obi-
Wan. The powers you can make use of
include the big screen famed force push,
allowing you to topple battle droids or
objects in your path. The force pull lets the

I 50 PCPP

player draw items that are just out of reach
(think Luke in the Wampa's cave in The
Empire Strikes Back). Sabre throw allows you
to throw the light sabre at an enemy, after
which it returns to you. And there's the force
throw, which grabs nearby objects or
enemies and throws them away from you,
as well as force jump, distract and heal.
Perhaps the coolest force power of all is
force speed. In a nice twist, the force power
doesn't make you an uncontrollable
speeding bullet, but rather slows everything
else down around you - tres moderne!

As Obi-Wan progresses through the
game, he gains experience that enhances
his force powers. But you won't be able to
assign points to gain new powers or
specialise in any of them, like in jedi Knight.
All of the powers that Obi-Wan can use are
available at the outset of the game. As he
progresses, all of his jedi strengths
gradually increase, so you'll heal better,
jump higher and increase your force speed
(that means everyone else gets even

slower!). In contrast to Jedi Knight, you will
not be able to choose the Dark Side and the
force powers associated with theSith.
Except, that is, in multiplayer.

Multiplayer has a greater emphasis in
Obi-Wan when compared to its predecessor.
Up to eight players can slug it out over the
internet, and possibly more with a LAN
connection. All of your favourite characters
are here to play: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Darth
Maul, Captain Panaka, MaceWindu, a Naboo
soldier, and a battle droid amongst others
(possibly Jar-Jar Binks even - whoopee!). All
the force powers from the single player
game are available including two from the
Dark Side: force choke and lightning.
However, logically some force powers aren't
available in multiplayer. You won't be able to
distract other players or use force speed -
which is probably a good thing.

There are number of multiplayer
games like capture the flag and
deathmatch, as well as a tournament-style
duel with another Jedi and Escort the

INTERACTIVE WORLD

Obi-Wan is not merely a weapon
running through a bunch of locations -
he is a man. As such he can interact with
the world around him. He will have a
number of commands that he can issue
to friendly NPCs - armed and civilian
alike. This can be used to make the
innocent take cover, as a call to arms, or
as a way to coordinate attacks. There
are also a number of vehicles at the
young Jedi's disposal. You'll able to ride
the metal steeds of the movie, like the
tanks and speeders amongst others.

Queen, where a group of players must
protect Queen Amidala from another
group trying to kill her. The multiplayer
aspects look healthy indeed.

Introducing Tanis

The developers found that the 3D engines
available just didn't suit their needs in Obi-
Wan. They wanted a more flexible engine that
could accommodate various processor
speeds and one that would adjust the
polygon count to maintain framerate. Thus
the Tanis engine was created. It is an engine
that can showcase the detailed architecture of
the levels, as well as connect areas of different
sizes more effectively. Tanis also features
multiple texture passes for remarkably
realistic detailing and light sourcing.

There has certainly been some public
concern over Obi-Wan, in the shadow of The
Phantom Menace and Jedi Knight games, as
well as the much publicised LucasArts
internal troubles. "My hope is that everyone
will be pleased, and find that the game is
right on target with their expectations," says
Thompson. "Obi-Wan *s definitely a strong
next step in this series, and many of the
Obi-Wan team worked on Mysteries of the
Sith [Jedi Knight's add-on] and Outlaws with
me. While it's a new engine, and a new
main character, the game contains the
elements that made Dark Forces and Jedi
Knight great, ie. an immersive Star Wars 3D
action game, huge engaging levels, and a
compelling Jedi experience."

Obi-Wan looks to be the true heir to the
Jedi Knight fortune and, if all is as
promised, it will be a standout title come
December this year.

PCPP 51

PREVIEW

GENRE

Action/Strategy

DEVELOPER

Rebellion

AVAILABLE

1st Qtr 2001

DETAILS

THERE IS, OF COURSE, "MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
IN REBELLION'S ROBOT ACTION GAME.

DAVID WILDGOOSE LEADS THE TRANSFORMATION.

f:\n7i mm, haven't we met somewhere
UJ1 before? First announced earlier
this year, Gunlok - from Aliens vs
Predator developer Rebellion - has been
subject to some notable design changes
in recent times.

Indeed, it now looks so startlingly
different - not to mention significantly more
impressive - that it feels like an entirely new
game. In fact, so much has changed that
some consideration was given to including it
in our First Look pages at the beginning of
Spotlight. In the end we decided that this
preview ought to provide sufficient
opportunity to display the full beauty of these
new screenshots. Let's take a second look.

Exotic weapons

Gunlok portrays a fairly stock-standard
apocalyptic scenario in which the Earth of the
future has been taken over by robots.
Apparently, mankind became too complacent
in its relationship with technology, allowing
the previously subordinate machines to take
control of their own destiny. Or, as the
microwave informed me last night, "If you
can't stand the heat, get out of my kitchen!"

The player steps into the heavily
armoured shoes of the squad leader of an
Advanced Special Forces Group, the last
hope of the human race and - rather
conveniently - the sole beneficiary of the
latest scientific research into the production
of Really Cool Weapons. With a variety of
missiles, grenades, plasma and laser
weapons in the company of some more
exotic tools of destruction such as the
Nanofrag and the Epulsar, combat certainly
plays a pivotal role in proceedings.

But Rebellion is keen to stress the tactical
nature of its warfare. The eponymous Gunlok
must assemble a squad of companions, each
of whom will be skilled in a diverse range of
abilities. Considered use of such talents
should prove essential in negotiating many
of the game's obstacles, whether they be
utilised during bouts ofmech combat or the
deduction of more cerebral puzzles. Also, the
potential to equip each squad member with
technological enhancements and
augmentations - shields, scanners, or
increased vision, for example - sees the game
begin to chart a roleplaying course. It's
through the combination of these gameplay
elements that Gunlok will allow the player to
fully explore the depth of tactical options.

The silent kill

Most prominent among the design changes
is the greater emphasis to be now given to
stealth. Not only is the field of vision for each
enemy calculated, but its range of hearing is
as well. Al robots will respond to the level of
noise the player makes, meaning that success
will be best ensured in near silence. Lending
significant assistance in the push toward
sneakier gameplay is the accurate line-of-
sight allowed by the properly 3D map design.

Since the first viewing, Gunlok is now
looking much more of a graphical delight.
Upon closer examination, these shots
also reveal the most fundamental - and
curious - change to the game: the hero
is no longer a robot, but human instead.

Well, that's not entirely true: the original
plan was for the player to think that the
hero was a robot, only for it to be
revealed otherwise later in the game.

However, test feedback indicated that
players felt more emotionally attached to a
human hero, hence the decision to reveal
this up front.

Instead, Rebellion is now promising a
new twist in the tale to explain this
mysterious transformation. In Gunlok, there
might just be more than meets the eye. Time
fora third look, perhaps. ■

FORMER ID SOFTWARE DESIGNER AMERICAN MCGEE
TRAVELS FROM DOOM TO WONDERLAND.

JOHN DEWHURST FINDS A BOTTLE THAT SAYS "PLAY ME

r wm?"

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1 1

DETAILS

demons and the walking dead have all
come into the sights of your weaponry.
In fact, they are so familiar that such
elements alone barely raise an eyebrow
these days. The extreme in games is
common, but what about unsettling?
Well, that's entirely more rare.

Take a well-loved story from children's
literature and turn it into the nightmare
opposite; take a cute, precocious character
and turn her into a morbid, knife-wielding,
goth child. Take a look at American
McGee's Alice and see that action games
are going to new places.

McGee started out at id Software, in tech
support before moving to game design. He's

GENRE

Action/Adventure

MULTIPLAYER

DEVELOPER

Rogue Entertainment

PUBLISHER

Electronic Arts

AVAILABLE

November

URL

www.alice.ea.com

O ction gamers are familiar with

diabolical themes: mutants, aliens,

famous for his work on level design and
contributed to both Doom and Quake, in
sound effects and programming among
other things. At the moment, McGee is a
creative director at Electronic Arts
and leading the Alice project. His
collaborators, Rogue Entertainment,
are responsible for add-on packs
to Quake II. There's definitely
some pedigree here for
serious FPS action.

Into the abyss

But hold up, this isn't an FPS, at
least not like McGee's previous
work. In an unexpected move, Alice is
played from a thirdperson perspective
(a la Heretic II orTomb Raider).

Furrowed brows are excused, as this choice
can be troublesome from an action gaming
standpoint. But, as McGee explains,
"Thirdperson allows us to put more

emotion on Alice and her
adventure. It opens up the
possibilities for new
character

i animations, which
convey attitude and
personal character
attributes. This is important to us
since our game has such a
strong underlying story."

This story of Alice follows
the two Lewis Carroll novels.
McGee's Alice is a girl entirely
transformed after her last

I 54 PCPP

NIGHTMARE LULLABIES

Alice is definitely no stroll along the
beach, so you would therefore expect
the music to be on the dark side.

Enlisted to write the grim score is Chris
Vrenna, long time drummer for Nine
Inch Nails and friend of Trent Reznor. We
can expect some heavy electro-rock
with sampled toy instruments. Should
be just the ticket...

journey, Through the Looking Glass. She's
petite and neat but grim, intense and
packing heat. After aging a few years, Alice
returns to Wonderland to find that things
have gone wrong. She still has friends in the
White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat, but these
guys are looking sickly at best. Worst of all,
the rest of the inhabitants, who were largely
harmless, have turned nasty - mad, bad and
ready to cut a young girl up. Expect to face
the Jabberwocky, the Mad Hatter and the
Queen of Hearts, as well as an army of
lesser creatures.

The Wonderland universe is a strikingly
detailed and visually exciting place. Locations
that Alice must visit include the Forest of
Shrooms, Vale of Tears, Citadel of Fire. The
environments vary greatly: from dark forests

and other check-your-back exteriors, to
monochrome castles, swaying citadels and
precarious pathways suspended in a void.
The more fantastic possibilities have been
well implemented in Alice, with swirling
abysses in the sky, dramatic architecture and
flirting with the very physics of the world. By
using the Quake III engine, Alice is bound to
be a visual and gameplay dream.

Ghoulish bloodbath

The influence of other action/adventure
titles is present, as Alice is not just a
bloodbath free-for-all. "Alice will have a
30/70 adventure/action split. The 30%
adventure will consist of exploration, puzzle
solving, and environmental interaction. The
70% action will be Alice versus bad guys",

says McGee. With the story emphasis and an
adventure angle, Alice seems to be aiming
for the head as much as the trigger finger.

The only obvious disappointment is the
absence of a multiplayer option, something
that's come to be expected by action gamers.
McGee's reasoning is sound: "With games
like Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament
cornering the market on really tight, slick
multiplayer, it doesn't make much sense for
us to take development time away from the
single player game to create something we
know can't possibly compete with a
multiplayer only game. I think that Half-Life
showed you could create an amazing well-
done single player game, release multiplayer
later on, and not suffer the
consequences. This is not to
say we're planning on doing a
multiplayer component to Alice."

Despite this apparent gap,

American McGee's Alice looks to
be a fine addition to the single
player action genre. It's got the
comforts we have come to love in an
action game, with a ghoulish and
disconcerting new twist. A waifish young
thing ready to swing a knife into a giant
ant? Truly Unmissable!

PCPP 55

PREVIEW

The Blair Witch Projects

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY... WELL, YOU PROBABLY WOULD
RUN INTO MIKE WILCOX DISCUSSING FILM TO VIDEOGAME CONVERSIONS.

OH, AND SOME DEAD PEOPLE HANGING FROM THE TREES...

raw production values and its shock-
umentry style delivery, resulted in a
product that definitely didn't fit the
standard movie mould.

Wfyi hen the cashed up hordes of
1 wdB Hollywood's filmmaking movers
and shakers choose to throw a
briefcase of greenbacks at a raw movie
script these days, they can generally
polish any shaped turd you care to
mention, resulting more often than not
in box office success. Yes, we're in an
era of filmmaking where audiences
expect more bangs and explosions for
their bucks, and compare movies by
the number of cities that are
demolished by either natural
forces or
extraterrestrial
beings in a single
screening. And
it's this very
industry that's
quick to measure
the success of a
movie franchise by
the number of
sequels it spawns.

It was refreshing
then last year to see an
independently produced
film made on a shoestring
budget, breaking not only

box office records, but also
some of the fundamental rules
from Hollywood's school of
successful filmmaking. Haxan
Film's offering, The Blair
Witch Project had filmgoers
questioning the meaning of
what it was to be afraid all
over again. In a way that
Alfred Hitchcock once
made famous, the movie
managed to send chills
through people not
because of what they
saw, but of what they
weren't shown, leaving
much of the horror up to the
individual's imagination. This, along with

Ohmigod!

In the same way the makers of the movie
have successfully gone against traditions
in the film industry, Gathering of
Developers now also intends on
accomplishing similar results when the
movie makes its small screen debut as a
trilogy of computer games over the
coming months. With a simultaneous
ringing of alarm bells in most gamers'
heads, a brief look back at previous
movie-to-game conversions proves this is
an area of gaming titles that have on a

DETAILS

GENRE

Action/Adventure

MULTIPLAYER

DEVELOPERS

Terminal Reality
Human Head
Ritual Entertainment

PUBLISHER

G0D/Take2

DUE

October

December

March

URL

www.godgames.com

BLAIR WITCH VOLUME 1: THE RUSTIN PARR INVESTIGATION

Developed by Terminal Reality, the first in the trilogy is set in 1941.
The game is based in the Maryland town of Burkittsville, and centres
around the investigations by two of Nocturne's Spookhouse
characters - Doc Holiday and The Stranger - into the supernatural
forces that drove Rustin Parr to murder seven children in his house.
He claims it was the voice of an old woman ghost seeking

vengeance, who was known locally as The Blair Witch. The game will
provide the same dark and eerie, yet beautifully rendered, images
thanks to the Nocturne engine, while still provoking a sense of
horror and suspense of that created by the movie. You will be
expected to source information along the way from a variety of
characters through conversations, plus take out the odd evil entity.

PCPP 57

PREVIEW

whole, desperately failed to live up to
their silver screen counterparts in any
way, shape or form.

Reasons for this have ranged
from placing too much focus on
trying to match the graphic
content of the film instead of the
actual gameplay, to restricting
the game to the exact plot and
actions of the film, to the typical
rushed out the door to
coincide with the big
screen release scenario.

Whichever the case, the
final decisions are usually
made by suits in
boardrooms looking to
cash in on the marketing
opportunities surrounding
the release of the movie,
resulting in the cheapest
bidder being given short
production times, and not
enough resources.

So what would happen if the
whole process had been thought
out properly? What if the right
developers had been chosen for
the job? What if they approached
the whole thing from a different angle?

Well, hopefully, that's just the case with the
team behind the games to be based on the
Blair Witch Project...

Three chapters

In a match almost too perfect to be
true, Haxan Films has selected
independent publisher Gathering of
Developers to head up the project,
which sees each of the three titles

being farmed out to different
development teams. Not
only that, but none of the
games will be based on
the actual movie of the
young filmmakers who
became lost in the forest.
Instead each of the games
will deal with individual
mythologies based within the
BlairWitch legend. And in
another first, the
development of these
games will see all three
developers teaming up to share
resources, ideas, information, and
even the same game engine.

In fact, the way in which the
developers approach these three
games, and how this differs from the

BLAIR WITCH VOLUME 2: THE LEGEND OF COFFIN ROCK

Developed by Human Head Studios, this second in the series is set
in 1886 and is based in the woods just outside Burkittsville. A
young girl by the name of Robin Weaver is said to have gone
missing in the woods, sparking off a search party, which goes in
after her. However the search party fails to return, only to be
discovered a week later at the Tree of Death, hanging as sacs of

skin and body parts. You play a soldier character that has been
asked by the young girl's grandmother to investigate the suspicious
circumstances and locate the young girl. On top of this, your
character has no memory of who he is, or where he is from, and
through a series of flashbacks must uncover this mystery as well.
The gameplay centres around a mix of action and puzzle solving.

58 PCPP

standard movie license arrangement, not
only breaks new ground in how to
approach movie-to-game conversions in
the future, but also on how other
developers might improve their products
by teaming up with others to share similar
resources. The first of the three
development teams for this project is
Terminal Reality, who are due to release
the first title in the series, called The Rustin
Parr Investigation. Human Head Studios is
working on the next in the series, titled The
Legend of Coffin Rock. And the final game
will come from Ritual Entertainment and
goes by the name of The Elly Kedward Tale.

Eerily episodic

While each of the games will utilise
Terminal Reality's Nocturne engine, the
emphasis on gameplay, and balance
between action, adventure and puzzles
will alter dramatically between them. They
will also be roughly a third the size of the
original Nocturne game, and therefore
priced accordingly cheaper. This is the
result of quicker development time and
half the production costs of a normal title.

However, if previous figures are
anything to go by, the teams could have

their work cut out for them turning this
series into a success story. While it's been
proven before that it takes more than a
major box office smash to generate the
same excitement in the gaming world, it's
interesting to note the same applies back
the other way, with a number of game to
movie conversions failing in a big way,
too. All those that voted for Lara Croft to
appear in her own up and coming movie,
prepare to stand up and be accountable.
Though, as long as publishers and
developers such as the team at GOD
continue to tap into resource and skill
sharing opportunities, we can look
forward to a flood of innovative and
fresh ideas in gaming.

BLAIR WITCH VOLUME 3: THE ELLY KEDWARD TALE

Developed by Ritual Entertainment, the third and final game in
the series is set in 1786 and casts players in the role of
Witchhunter Jonathan Pyre. This is where the whole Blair Witch
mythology begins. When the people of Blair find Elly Kedward
guilty of practising witchcraft on some of the town's children,
she is banished to the woods during the middle of a hazardous
winter. Although presumed dead, all of her accusers and half

the town's children disappear before the remaining people all
abandon the town. It was then forty years later that
Burkittsville was founded on the area that was once Blair. The
gameplay is more action based than the previous two.
However, given the period of time, the developer has chosen to
use a spellcasting/ combat system, which ties in seamlessly
with the Blair Witch Universe.

PCPP 59

PREVIEW

Starship Troopers

MELBOURNE'S BLUE TONGUE SOFTWARE GET
INSPIRED BY THE NOVEL RATHER THAN THE CHEESY
FILM, WHILE MARCH STEPNIK IS KILLED BY BLACK
BUGS IN THE VIDEOGAME...

DETAILS

GENRE

Realtime Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Blue Tongue Software

PUBLISHER

Hasbro Interactive

AVAILABLE

November

URL

www.bluetongue.com

■FJH tarship Troopers. If you're like
IhI most people, these words
probably invoke images of hundreds of
gorgeous men and women positively
drenched in testosterone (yes, the
women too) charging down - and
subsequently fleeing from - thousands
upon thousands of nightmarish giant
bugs. It certainly wasn't the absolute
worst sci-fi movie ever to grace the
silver screen (ladies and gentlemen, we
present to you: Battlefield Earth!
Coming soon to a cinema near you!),
neither was it one of the most
inspiring. It was a fun action romp
owing more to strong visuals and
cheesy one-liners than an enthralling
plot or narrative.

However for a large community of sci-fi
fans out there, Starship Troopers represents
a well-loved piece of fantasy fiction, one that
Paul Verhoeven simply couldn't do justice in
a film adaptation. Written by Robert Heinlein
in 1959, the novel featured a stronger focus
on technology and the hideously gritty side
of interplanetary warfare.

Radical rethink

The original vision for the Starship Troopers
PC game was that of a firstperson (soon
afterwards a thirdperson) action shooter, to
be based almost exclusively on the film.

With a planned release within a year of the
film's cinema run, poor performance in the
box office and the proliferation of
firstperson action games on the market

played their parts in a rethink of the
strategy in handling the license. In that
incarnation, the project was scrapped.

Set for a release late spring, Starship
Troopers: Terran Ascendancy presents itself
as a markedly different version of the original
concept, and reflects a more reassuring
approach to the well-known license. A realtime
strategy affair, Terran Ascendancy features a
more prolific nod to the heights of Robert
Heinlein's literary vision in its dealings with
giant marauding space insects. "The game
draws from both sources - the aesthetics of
the movie and the hardcore militarism of the
novel," says Nick Hagger, producer and
designer of Terran Ascendancy.

Spanning twenty-four missions in the
Third Terran Space War, TA takes the player

60 PCPP

through all manner of environments before
ending up on the bugs' home planet of
Klendathu - the location of the game's fitting
finale. Blue Tongue has designed a range of
mission types to captivate players, ranging
from reconnaissance, search and destroy,
and rescue missions. While the missions
themselves will be quite linear, there will be
liberal use of scripted scenes mid-mission to
help keep things interesting.

As for the action: don't expect TA to
degenerate into mindless resource building
where success is brought about by
annihilating the enemy with strength in
numbers. Instead, the game lends itself
more in principal to the likes of Force
Commander than it does the C&Cs and
StarCrafts of our time. It eschews any
traditional sense of base building, although
resource management is in - your units are
your sole responsibility in the game. At the
start of the game, you take on the role of a
cadet lieutenant transferred to the front line,
and given charge of a platoon. Manage your
troops effectively or suffer the dire
consequences in the claws of giant roaches.

"Veteran units are your most important
resource," explains Hagger. "The only way to
keep your troopers alive is through cautious
and strategic gameplay. Grunt-rushing
arachnid warriors is a sure way to turn your
troopers into bug food."

Battle experience plays an important role
in TA; as your units survive battles, points in
certain abilities increase. Thus, careful use of
your troops is a must if you plan to
accumulate a powerful platoon.

"[Starship] Troopers can be played either
with stealth or aggressively; and the best

strategy is a mixture of both," Hagger
continues. "Each mission requires a
combination of tactics to finish them
successfully. Sometimes you can avoid a
sticky situation by creeping around
opponents, but most other times there's no
other solution than having to fight your way
through the bugs.

"The arachnids can attack from above
and below, and can hearyou when you
patrol around in large numbers. It pays to
send out small squads with specific objectives."

Prior to each mission, theTerran fleet
takes a xenographic sample of each mission
area giving players some indication of what
to expect on the ground below, allowing
them to choose their strike force accordingly.

Bugs

And what's there to fear? The bugs. Blue
Tongue has created more than fifteen
different types of insects for the Ml to battle,
each suitably terrifying. They range from the
small yet persistent Chariot bugs to the
deadly Plasma Bug - the largest of these able
to dwarf their human counterparts.

The score has been evened with the
inclusion of 'powered' armour suits - a strong
feature of the book that never made it into the
film release. These suits - essentially power-
ups - fall into three categories (Marauder,
Scout and Command - and there are twelve
in all) give units all manner of different
advantages on the battlefield. There are also
disadvantages, meaning careful selection
and use of these powered units is a must.

Given the strong use of elements of
Heinlein's story, Hagger concedes that the
novel, not the movie, served as the primary

source of inspiration for gameplay. "The
Starships, the powered armour, the platoon
structure were all inspired by the novel.
Heinlein's concept of elite battalions
packing the firepower of contemporary
armies lies at the heart of gameplay. The
Mobile Infantry (Ml) are driven by their
valour and their loyalty
to the cause - espirit
d'corps is the essence
of Starship Troopers."

And so in closing,
we ask which version
of Starship Troopers
agrees with Hagger
most. "Most
people have
seen the movie
and the cartoon show, but
only a handful of us are
fans of the novel. There's no
question in my mind,
however, that the Heinlein
novel is the real deal!"

Starship Troopers:

Terran Ascendancy is due
on shelves very soon.

PCPP 61

awnloads

64 PCPP

artists, and designers that’s been terrorising
my neighbourhood. They go by the likely
name of Ratbag.”

“Don’t worry honey, I’ve been following
these guys for sometime now.” With that I
pulled open my desk drawer and lifted out a
file the size of the Yellow Pages. “Where do you
want me to start sweetheart?”

“I want it all - from the top,” she whispered.

Well it just so happened I had one of the
gang in for questioning recently over some
attempted ATM cracking downtown.

to see a copy of the interview I
have on file?” She reached across my
desk, revealing a plungeline in her
dress, so sweet I could smell the
roses printed on the dress.
When my eyes met hers
again, she grabbed
the file, sat back,
crossed her legs
(slowly) and began
to read my file...

her name, my eyes were all over her like a
cheap coat of paint. I nearly struggled to get
the words out, “Sit down, can I get you a
drink? So talk to me.”

I was never big on words, besides she had
the kind of voice you could listen to for
hours. “My name’s Crystal, and I will pay
you handsomely to find out everything you
can about an Adelaide based
gang of programmers,

was sitting in my office flipping cards
into the rubbish bin in the corner and
arguing with myself that 1:30pm was too
early to start drinking. Some days it just
don’t pay to open the office and this was one
of those days. The last case I had was trailing
a schoolyard ring of software pirates. The day
of the bust, they’d been tipped
off, and haven’t been seen since.

That was a week ago.

lust then, as I considered a change
to building houses out of cards,
there was a knock on the office
door. Before I could get
up, there standing in
the doorway was the
tall sexy silhouette of
a dame. A soft sultry
voice said, “A mutual
friend told me if I
ever needed help, to
come see you”.

Before I’d even asked

someiiiHCRe Doumotiin

Let the records show - Location: 32nd
precinct, time: 1700, Monday August 14,
2000. Can you state your name and
occupation please?

My name is Tom Crago. I’m the Director of
Development at Ratbag Games. I joined the
company in October last year after working as
a lawyer and as the CEO of a small media
consultancy. My role at Ratbag is twofold. I’m
part of the company executive, which means I
assist in setting Ratbag’s overall strategic
direction. I also oversee the production of all
our titles. In that sense my primary
responsibility is as a manager. We place a lot of
responsibility in the hands of the leaders of
each of our departments, primarily our Art
Directors, Lead Programmers, Game Designers
and Animation Directors. These are the people
that really carry the vision for our games in
their hands. I just make sure that there’s
synergy within the team and that our
publishers are happy with what we produce.

You haven’t always operated under the
name Ratbag, haven’t you used a less
assuming name at one stage?

Yes that’s right, as Emergent Software our first
project was a flight simulator. Everyone
recognised that our technology was good, but
no one wanted to run with the concept at that
time. Ultimately that same technology found its
way into Powerslide. We changed our name to
Ratbag after we got our first publishing deal.

We have a running joke that we called ourselves
Emergent because it sounded respectable, and
then as soon as the deal was signed we showed
our true colours by renaming ourselves Ratbag.

What are some of the challenges you face as
an Australian-based game developer?
Working from Australia has advantages and
disadvantages. It means a lot of travel and late
night phone calls. We don’t want to give our
publishers and overseas associates any reason
to think that our distance is even an issue. That
essentially means that wherever possible we
work to their clocks. We value face-to-face
meetings, so we travel quite frequently too.

Australia is an excellent place to have a
studio because the local talent is among the
best in the world. Most of our staff come from
Adelaide and almost all were educated in

Australia. And our people are really among the
best in the world. There are also some great
local developers with whom we get along very
well. There’s a strong sense of community
among Australian developers and we hope that
the success of Ratbag will be good for everyone.

The other thing about living in Australia is
our partners overseas love to come and visit us.
There’s nothing better than getting an important
contact over here, showing them what a great
country we have and persuading them that
maybe we’re a company they’d like to have
more to do with. At the moment, getting paid in
US dollars and Pounds Sterling is nice too.

PCPP 65 I

INTERVIEW

DIRT TRACK RRCinG

The American version is among the best selling
PC racing games in the world at present. This
title is pending release locally while a major
local license is negotiated. DTR is the world’s
first authentic dirt track racing game, with up to
thirty different tracks. One of the game’s most
popular features has been the career mode. The
idea being you start with a small amount of
money in a low racing league, and have to work
your way up to the top competitions in the racing
world. Setting up and tuning the car for different
racing conditions as well as the multiplayer
online aspect has been a big success too.

DTR SPRUIT CRRS

This is the sequel to Dirt Track Racing, and will
probably be released in Australia first. DTR Sprint
Cars features fully-licensed, real-life tracks, and
new vehicle physics to suit the style of sprint car
racing. Other features include a game structure
similar to DTR in that you start a career mode,
where players progress by winning prize money
and attracting sponsorship so they can upgrade
their vehicle. Twenty tracks are included with
up to fifty different cars to pick from. This also
features support for LAN and internet play.

There are quite a few documents on our server
with the words ‘Powerslide 2’ in their title. It
would have been fun to make the game, but we
decided to move in a new direction. Powerslide
definitely did change the company. Its success
enabled us to grow and to expand into new
areas, including console development.

This natural growth must mean you’re now
capable of more projects at the one time?
How many teams do you have, and what are
they each working on?

We have three teams: one each for our two
PlayStation2 titles and one for our PC dirt
racing games. The two PS2 titles are being
published by Sony. One is a Sprint Car Racing
game, the other an Action/Adventure title. Our
PC team is focused on building our dirt racing
franchise following on from the success of
Powerslide and of Dirt Track Racing in the US.

experiencing such rapid growth, means that for
at least the next 18 months we’ll be focusing on
projects presently in production.

I’m sure these new titles will make full use
of the proprietary software engine the
company has developed for use in all its
racing games. Are there plans to go the way
of id software and make it available to other
game developers?

Our game engine is our proprietary Difference
Engine (tm). This was the engine that powered
Powerslide and then Dirt Track Racing. We’re
totally rewriting the engine for PS2 with a
focus on creating a reusable development
environment that will enable us to develop for
both console and PC in a far less stressful
manner than is presently the case. We have
come close to licensing our engine in the past,
but to date have not gone down that road. It’s
always an option though.

66 PCPP

Are the all programmers, graphics artists
and other members of the team Australian?
Is it a difficult task trying to find the sort of
talent you’re looking for?

They’re pretty much all Australian and mostly
from Adelaide. Finding good talent is tough,
and personally it’s one of the most challenging
aspects of my job. We’re quite aggressive in our
recruitment at the moment. We’ve grown from
15 staff to 35 in the space of 8 months and we’re
going to continue to grow. Last week we employed
5 new staff. We’re very much open to overseas
talent, but so far the need hasn’t arisen.

cnGinccRinG

Speaking of abroad, what effect did the
worldwide success of Powerslide have on
the company? And why did we never see a
Powerslide 2, as is the case with the majority
of other successful games these days?

Will PS2 be the only console you
develop for?

At this stage we’re just developing titles
for PS2. Our relationship with Sony is
so strong at the moment that we’re not
heavily motivated to seek out new
business. The fact also that our current
staff are fully utilised, and we’re

Can you go into any further detail on the
new projects the company is working on?
Next and Spin are our two PS2 titles. These are
working names at present. We’re also localising
DTR for Australia, and working on a Sprint Car
sequel to that game which will be released in
the US in September. Leadfoot is nearing
completion as well. On the PC front, Australian
gamers can look forward to the release of Dirt
Track Racing Sprint Cars and the original DTR
in time for Christmas. Leadfoot should be
released sometime early in 2001. It’s been a dry
spell for a while, but there’ll be a flood of new
Ratbag titles starting soon.

So with your proprietary engine being
rewritten, how does this affect the internal
development of titles, and its uses beyond
just racing style games?

We’ve now structured the company such that
we have two divisions - a racing division and
an action/adventure division. Our plan is to
develop titles in both
divisions. Our engine
would certainly

The world’s first stadium off-road racing simulator,
featuring a tight, close racing style. Players race
pick up trucks and buggies around indoor tracks
filled with lots of jumps and other stunts, that are
typically constructed in baseball stadiums in
America. As with previous titles, tuning components
of the car will be available as will a career mode.
There will be fifteen tracks featuring such
hazards as bridges, jumps and water. It’s due for
release at the beginning of 2001.

LERDFOOT

lend itself to other forms of racing game. The
physics model is highly sophisticated, and
under the supervision of our resident cyber-
hero Richard Harrison, I have no doubt it could
be adapted to new styles of racing.

THE Online flPPERL

Does ongoing development of PC technology
have any effect on the games you develop?
Absolutely. Online, massively multiplayer
games will play a big role in our next
generation of PC titles.

High speed Internet connections will soon
be common for PC users. Do you see the
implementation of broadband effecting the
games you produce and the gaming
community on a whole?

Big time. While on one hand we’re doing amazing
things with AI to make our NPC characters and
cars behave more like humans, on the other we’re
focusing on these massively multiplayer online
games where you’re up against human opponents.
Our vision is of a gaming world similar to the
real-life racing world. Maybe you race a car in
an organised league with 25 races a year. Every
fortnight you have to stay up late to race in the
time zone of the host country. Perhaps you work

with a virtual-mechanic in another city who helps
you set up your car to suit local conditions. We
think there’ll be sponsors, prize money, media
coverage. Total immersion. That’s definitely
what I’m after in an online gaming experience.

What do you see as future goals for Ratbag?
Our goal is to continue to build our PC dirt racing
franchises and to move into the realm of online,
massively multiplayer PC racing. We’d like to be
at the forefront of this, establishing online racing
leagues and a sense of community among racing
games fans. On the PS2, our aim is to be
considered among premier console developers
in the world after the release of our first two titles.
Like every developer we’re after bigger budgets
and longer development cycles. We want make
classic games that play a serious role in redefining
our art form. The PS2 will revolutionise interactive

entertainment, and we want our titles to play a
part in bringing video games to a new audience.

At this point, I gazed across at the clock
while putting away my notebook, stood up and
thanked Tom Crago for his time, and requested
that he didn’t leave town without letting me
know first. ‘You’re free to go’ I said. And that’s
the state of the case as it stands.

Crystal handed the file back and looked at me.
“Not bad at all, for a half tanked private detective.”

Damn, she could tell I’d started drinking
already. With that I reached for my coat, headed
for the door, and said, “Let’s continue this
conversation over a couple dry martinis.” She
agreed and we left in search of the closest bar
with a happy hour. ■

COnSOLE VOURSELF

SPIN will be the first of two PS2 titles released,
and is a Sprint car game. Unlike the DTR
franchise, this is a totally new title that’s being
redesigned from the ground up. It’s set to
feature real life tracks and drivers, in
authentically modelled cars. The two most
interesting aspects of the game will be the
extraordinary acceleration of the vehicles, and
the spectacular collisions, which are the two
things these cars are most known for. It will also
feature the world’s first track deformation
system, so the dirt track surfaces will alter to
reflect the impact of actual racing, with ruts,
grooves, and potholes that will appear as players
move through heats, reflecting previous race.

NEXT will be an action/adventure title about
which Ratbag can’t say much at this stage, but
it’ll form a big part of what the company does
into the future. This title has no confirmed
release date. ^

lilC’D LIKE TO BE AT THE fOREfROAT Of ESTABLISHMG ORLinE RACIAG

leagues one a ssnsE of (OPinuniTV adoag raciag GAPIE FAnS

PCPP 67

WHAT IS AUSTRALIA'S BEST MAGAZINE FOR
TODAY'S MUSIC MAKERS, FEATURING EVERYTHING
FROM LOCAL TO INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS AND
PRODUCERS AND ALL THE BEST GEAR, GADGETS,
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE?

ISSUE NINE

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a 'v a i 1 g Ci 1 @ at a S

IN REVIEW

The most authoritative reviews around

O s I sit here nursing a fractured skull, I feel

compelled to impart some advice to would-be
debaters out there. If you're contemplating driving
home your point with a headbutt to the noggin of an
argumentative opponent, make sure they're not
wearing a carbon fibre motorcycle helmet at the
time. Incidentally, next time I'm engaged in vigorous
debate with Monsieur Fox, I'll consider using the tried
and true broken-beer-bottle-to-the-stomach(tm)
method that has faithfully served inebriated pub
brawlers for decades. The irony of sustaining a life-
threatening injury (albeit one that could be
considered self-inflicted) while discussing the issue of
violence is certainly not lost on me. But I digress.

This month has been noticeably devoid of blockbuster
titles, but that doesn't translate to an absence of gaming
goodness - not by any means. Midtown Madness 2 and
Heavy Metal: FAKK2, while not the most original titles, are
definitely worth checking out. And AoEII: The Conquerors is
deserving of a place in every RTS gamer's collection.
Anyway, enough of my incessant rambling - a migraine
approacheth. Turn the page and revel in the intellectual
riches that lay beyond, while I try and secure some kind of
sponsorship deal with the manufacturers of Nurofen.
Maybe some good will come of this travesty. . .

brettr@next.com.au

THE PCPP REVIEW SYSTEM

1 SCORING

90+

Gold Award. A classic, everyone will love this game.

89-80

A strong title that's hard to fault. But perhaps not the best in
its field.

79-60

Competent and playable. For fans of the genre.

59-40

Decidedly average, probably boring.

39-0

A dog. Bad, shamelessly unoriginal, cheap and horrible. Avoid.

Need

The minimum requirements to get the game running at a
playable speed.

Want

The ideal system requirements for the game.

For

The major reasons why you'll like the reviewed game.

1 Against The major reasons why you won't.

70 Midtown Madness 2

74 Heavy Metal: FAKK2

78 Age of Empires II: The Conquerors

80 Reach For The Stars

82 KISS: Psycho Circus

84 Warlords: Battlecry

86 All Star Tennis 2000

88 Europe in Flames, Century of Warfare

90 Wacky Races, Pizza Syndicate

91 Arcatera

92 Tachyon: The Fringe

93 The Sims: Livin' Large

94 Mech Collection, Super Hornet

95 Thandor

96 Reader Review: Everquest

98 Scorelist

100 Retroversion: Dark Reign 2

All In-house previews, reviews & testin
are done on Gateway computers

1800 500 74E

www.au.gateway.com

Gateway.

■PP

, . . :i\\v\\v

PCPP 69

MIDTOWN MADNESS 2

Roll up! Roll up! See the amazing, death-defying, leaping pedestrians!

DETAILS

t was a Sunday. And as much as I
tried, I couldn't break tradition.
After all, what better way to
get familiar with your
surroundings than to slow
down and give yourself the
time to soak it all in? So
there I was, cruising the
streets of San Francisco,
adhering to the speed limit
(well, okay, I was driving well under),
getting a feel for the fabulous city.
Consider me the penultimate tourist.

At first glance, everything seemed in
order: cars followed basic road rules;
traffic lights regulated the flow of vehicles
throughout the CBD. But then I noticed the
positively mystifying behaviour of San
Fran's many pedestrians. As I slowly drove
down an amicably wide street shouldered
by amicably wide footpaths, San Fran's
citizens either dove away from my vehicle
or threw themselves spreadeagle against
the nearest wall to avoid any contact.

What made it even stranger was that the
average distance between me and them
was a good three to four metres. I
couldn't help but wonder what had
instilled such a heavy sense of paranoia
within these people.

Then it all fell into place. I pulled up
behind a procession of half a dozen cars at a
red light. The first car at the intersection
failed to move with the change to the green
light. A motorist a few cars back decided
that this just wasn't good enough and
proceeded to violently ram the car in front of
him up the rear tail-pipe. The ensuing
cacophony was not surprising. It didn't take
long for cars to be pushed into the opposite
lane of traffic, resulting in a quite a
spectacular pile up. I simply drove on by.

It didn't stop there. A separate incident
saw a car approaching in the opposite
direction attempt a rather dangerous 180
degree turn, colliding head on into other
traffic. Further incidents repeated this
continuing trend. Jeezus! No wonder the
pedestrians are such neurotic gits. These
drivers are maniacs!

Midtown Madness 2's charm, much like
that of its predecessor - Midtown
Madness, the cunning snakes - lies in its
ability to immerse players within an
accurate model of a city's road transport
system. And then let them loose. The
urban eco-system is so well presented
that it is indeed quite satisfying to embark
on a Sunday Drive to simply observe the Al
at work.

GENRE

Arcade smash-em-
up racing

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Angel Studios

PUBLISHER

Microsoft

DISTRIBUTOR

Microsoft

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

PII-266, 32Mb RAM,
350Mb HDD

WANT

Pill, 128Mb RAM, 3D
Videocard (D3D)

70 PCPP

VEHICLE ;Freightliner Fire Truck

COLOR

BACK

GO DRIVE

MIND THE GAP

SWAN LAKE

throwing some much needed
chaos and anarchy

Therein lies MM2's thrill: the ever
frequent and awe-inspiring pile-ups that
occur. (It bears mentioning here that you
can't actually injure any of the pedestrians,
however the satisfaction of bearing down
on absolute innocents remains intact.)

A modest sequel

Angel Studios hasn't done a great deal to
the original Midtown Madness formula.

You choose a car from a pool of many,
select a basic race mode from one of four
driving options, and hoon away. The
essence of the first makes it to the sequel,
warts and all.

However the one change that does leap
out and slap you about a bit is the inclusion

The pedestrians of MM2 have kept in training since Midtown
Madness: they'll gracefully leap away from any oncoming
vehicular threat with an efficiency second to none. They've even
perfected an astounding new technique granting temporary
invulnerability (the "hug the wall and pretend it's not happening"
manoeuvre), meaning drivers with a sadistic streak (a la
Carmageddon) won't get much satisfaction here.

GiffiTlI^Wniilalia

Pommy drivers: insane

Of course, causal appreciation of the
fine Al that the developers have coded in
to the game is hardly what Midtown
Madness 2 is all about. Nay, the game's
about tearing shit up; throwing some
much needed chaos and anarchy into the
normal order of things, and seeing what
comes of it.

The premise is simple: racing is
infinitely more thrilling when the lives of
innocent road users and pedestrians, and
millions of dollars worth of private and
public property are seemingly at stake.

Midtown Madness 2 is a racing game set
within the confines of two busy and
crowded modern cities. Think about the
alternatives - which would you prefer?
Taking a tight turn and skidding out of
control into a barrier or some trees (a la
Formula One or rally car racing)? Or taking
a similar turn, rebounding off a famous
landmark and crashing into a heap of
oncoming traffic, causing a spectacular
accident with motor parts and mail boxes,
street lamps and telephone boxes melding
to become one metallic mass?

The economy model: rear half optional

HORSEPOWER
TOP SPEED
DURABILITY
MASS

To unlock this vehicle, place 1 st, j
2nd, or 3rd in five San Francisco I
Blitz Races

TRANSMISSION ! Automatic

VEH CLE SHOWCASE

■At

While you'll spend a lot of your time driving on (and
flying over) the streets (and waterways) of San Francisco
and London, it is the London map that also offers a more
subterranean alternative.

The Underground rail network of tunnels serves a
perfectly viable driving route, and can provide quite a
valuable shortcut. However, players must be mindful of
the Tube that passes through quite regularly - one hit can
cause quite a substantial amount damage to your vehicle.

Ill

PCPP 71

Gosh, what could MM stand for? Motoring Mini, perhaps.

Trust March to pick the car with the flowers on it

■ ‘ ■ H *

More tea. vicar?

; • '

0 ^ ‘ V

1 ij| .ffeX'j ~~

■

1 Night driving, a la Lost Highway

I English stereotypes - always good fun

ONLINE

http://www.angelstudio

s.com/midtown2.htmi

Angel Studios takes
you on a tour of its
favourites

http://www.zone.com/

Microsoft Gaming
Zone. Play MM2
here against others
for free

of two new play areas. Rather than go for a
nondescript, generic American town (as
seen in Midtown Madness), the developer
has admirably simulated two of the world's
most popular and easily recognisable cities -
London, England, and San Francisco, USA.
These have been modelled exceptionally
well, with particular attention paid to a
faithful reproduction of the respective cities.
Included in these are well-known
landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge (and
Park), the Civic Center, the Soma district, as
well as London Bridge, London Tower,
Westminster Abbey and the Houses of
Parliament. Visitors of both should find that
both maps are quite authentic. The net
effect of these new settings is a more
tangible sense of "actually being there", of
being part of a virtual world.

The other substantial new addition to
MM2 is the game mode, Crash Course. As
either a budding London cabbie or an
apprentice stunt car driver in San
Francisco, you embark on a series of
missions teaching you the skills to become
a fully-fledged hoon. This is the game's
much needed tutorial section (although
it's not called that), and exemplifies the
more detailed driving model and the
greater emphasis on action racing.

THE VEHICLES

There are nine new vehicles to play around with in MM2. While a handful are but
enhancements of one style of car (there are three types of VW Beetles and three types
of Ford Mustangs), there are a couple of straight out newcomers. How about the Aston
Martin Vantage or the Audi TT? A Mini, or at the other end of the scale, a huge
firefighting truck? Each type of vehicle handles differently, especially the large heavy
vehicles (like the bus and trucks) which are prone to tipping.

Two thirds of the cars are accessible at the beginning of the game, while the remainder
must be unlocked by completing the racing and crash course modes of the game proper.

Most lessons (or missions) are quite
challenging, with high pass requirements
to be met before progress on the next can
occur. The up side of this is that you will
learn how to drive on two wheels, realise
the advantages of flight, powerslide your
way outta hell and quite simply master the
control of the vehicles at the end of each
course. You will also get to know San Fran
and London like the back of your hand. The
down side is that frustration may get the
better of you time and time again as you

attempt a particular class for the 13th time.
MM2 seems to have found a decidedly evil
addiction point between frustratingly hard
and challenging.

Once you have passed through the
crash course both in London and San
Francisco, you can then embark on the
game modes that make a repeat
appearance from Midtown Madness.
Cruise (where you drive about the cities
with no particular goals), Blitz (go through
the checkpoints in any order), and

72 PCPP

FLYING HIGH

O CHECKPOINT

Who's up for a game of Scotland Yard?

Not only are huge airborne stunts possible in Midtown Madness 2, they're required.
One particular San Francisco mission sees the player recreate a staple telemovie-
inspired action driving sequence. Racing down the hilly streets of the cosmopolitan
town, players launch their vehicle off the pier and onto a waiting garbage barge.
Similarly in London, not even the drawing of London Bridge is enough to slow down
the gung ho driver. The partly raised sections of roads serve as perfect platforms to
send your vehicle flying over to the other side.

Checkpoint Race (beat a host of other Al
racers through the checkpoints to the
finish line).

Sure the game offers thrills in these
singleplayer modes, but they're cheap. The
Al of the other road users is really quite
uninspiring, and by the time you've
mastered the Crash Course modes, the
other race modes lack an equivalent
challenge. And Midtown Madness 2's
virtual cities only work in the longterm
when serving as a backdrop to some
spectacular racing...

The multiplayer feature of MM2 is its
saving grace. All the game modes of
singleplayer can be played against up to
seven other players, with the addition of
one new multiplayer-only mode: Cops and
Robbers. While the standard modes offer
some fun and challenging racing
scenarios, it is Cops and Robbers which
proves to be the most exciting. One player

has the gold and has to try to get it back to
base, while the other players have to try to
stop them getting away with it. The
premise makes for some truly intense
racing, putting all of your recently
acquired racing skills to the test as you
race to cut them off and put their racer out
of commission. Immense amount of fun is
to be had with this, and I have a feeling
this might become the multiplayer game
of choice in the PCPP office over the
coming months.

Break some rules

Apart from the new settings and a small
collection of padded extras, not much has
changed under the hood in the garage
between MM and MM2. The new additions
and settings are quite welcome, and the
new multiplayer mode makes for some
fantastically fun arcade racing.

The in-game stunt instructor sums up
Midtown Madness 2 perfectly during
training: "Nobody wants to see a movie
where the action hero puts on the turn signal
and yields to pedestrians, now, do they?"

Of course they don't. And when it
comes to computer games, this adage
seems infinitely more appropriate. Sure it's
fun sticking to the rules. But it's nowhere
near as much fun as breaking them.
Ultimately, Midtown Madness 2 is a short,
but very, very sweet, racing adventure.

March Stepnik

FOR

■ Intense racing
(in multiplayer
especially)

■ Stomach churning
spills

■ Detailed (and
familiar) cities in
which to hoon

AGAINST

■ Can be

frustratingly difficult

■ Slow down a
problem at times

■ Limited range of
game modes

OVERALL

Arcade racing to
rival the infamous
Crazy Taxi

82 ,

PCPP 73

REVIEW

HEAVY METAL FAKK 2

This review does not feature even one fakking pun

GENRE

Action/Adventure

DEVELOPER

Ritual

Entertainment

PUBLISHER

Gathering of
Developers

DISTRIBUTOR

Jack of all Games

NEED

P-233, 32Mb RAM

WANT

PII-400, 64Mb
RAM, 3D Videocard

I isten closely, my children, and I'll
tell you a story. In the late 70s,
when every man, woman and child
on the planet read comics, a
I marvellous European comic called
Heavy Metal was made into a
movie. Having nekkid ladies and
swearing did wonders for the
otherwise ordinary film, but
what it actually achieved was
\ serious advances in animation.

It was a beautiful work,
f Now, something like 25

years after the initial film
Ear was released, the sequel
has been produced. Written by
I Kevin Eastman, co-inventor of
the Teenage Mutant Ninja
H Turtles, designed by comic genius
I Simon Bisley, it stars the famous
I beauty, B-grade queen Julie
H Strain. And in the proud tradition
of distribution that saw the
HB Episode 1 novel out before the
V film, we present the game
^B| adaptation long before the film.
And, in defiance of long

tradition, guess what? The
H game doesn't suck. In fact,
it's really rather enjoyable.

You take the part of the amazonian
protector of the planet Eden. The
eponymous Julie defeated some evil space
dude some time ago and now has to once
again take up arms, as her beautiful
planet - which harbours the f";

water of life

again under threat. Only KB
the FAKK 2 (Federation Y\

Assigned Ketogenic JNB

Killzone, for those M

keeping

score) JKmnrM

satellite, u0Y^f£ I

which

apparently flj 1

blows stuff up
real good or

warns people UJ

away or whatever, can save you
now. Then for no readily apparent
reason your sister gets nicked. She's
about to drop a sprog so it's even
more desperate that you get her
back. While this is going on the
religion-corporation Gith comes
closer, ever closer to finding Julie and
her home planet of Eden.

Horror from the skies! .

Asteroids! Mutant Bugs! H

is once

Pregnant Space Cows! Green Lizard Men I
Think! These are only a taste of the battle
| you will face. The plot is

rather odd, taking the
best of that tacky genre
sensibility that the Europeans so love
H and grafting it onto American

— . cheesecake SF. But this is

no movie review, so how
does it play?

1 ^ She's got the moves

W Well, it uses the Quake 3 engine, so
unsurprisingly it's efficient, handles
the big loads pretty well and the
graphics are mainly smooth (except
fora big clipping problem). However,
it's the gameplay that really comes
out. There is a feeling here of an
i inspired collision between mighty
m Quake 3 and, of course, Tomb
Raider, with old Lara making her

DETAILS

Julie trims her garden fern

74 PCPP

FAkKYOUICoM

COMIC CREATION

A Hills Hoist would be more practical

A bit of an all star cast went into the making of the original movie. Julie Strain is
without a doubt the leading B-grade actress in the world. Kevin Eastman, along with
his longtime partner Lairdman of course, created marketing monster TMNT but from
there moved into a series of other less famous but well received stories. Eventually he
created the comic for the anthology magazine Heavy Metal. Famous since the late 70s,
its characters were unashamedly for adults and made no apologies for being so. The
member of this cadre with the most work behind him is Simon Bisley. Illustrator of
such luminaries as ABC Warriors, Dredd/Batman, Slaine the Hunter, Lobo and many
other comics, he is considered the father of airbrushing in comics.

bosomy presence felt. But I also detect the
strange camera angles and two-handed
combat being rather influenced by the
criminally underrated Shadowman.

There is a variety of leaps, rolls, jumps,
sidling and all sorts of other gymnastics to
be performed. The camera system
revolves around a mouse/keyboard
interface. It's clever and makes for an
interesting style of gameplay, but what's
really needed is a way to somehow level
out the view. It's not always convenient to
stop and even up your camera, especially
when running and fighting.

Using these moves is something of a
pleasure in this huge world. It's pretty
linear, I'll grant you, but the levels are
creatively designed - occasionally you just
stop and check things out. And in a
pleasant gaming flashback, there is a
bunch of secret levels, power-ups and cool
weapons to be found.

Of course, one must navigate a large
amount of puzzles and trickery to get past a
lot of these things. What is it about
thirdperson action where designers get so
caught up with one particular kind of
puzzle? Soul Reaver had its endless bloody
blocks, Tomb Raider had locked doors and
FAKK has jumping puzzles. Loads of 'em.
Thankfully there are very few run like mad
for the door that will be open for half a
second two thirds of a map away.

Combat is, as mentioned, a two-handed
affair, much like the camera control. Mainly
it's a shield sword combo, but the use of
explosives, pistols, slings, double-handed
weapons, big guns and assorted instruments
of destruction adds a pleasing amount of
spice to the combat. And there is a lot of it
indeed. Combat comes fast and thick in parts,
yet while there are the occasional cool-ass
beasts and level bosses, most often you'll be
fighting bloody irritating hordes of bugs.

Asteroids! Mutant Bugs! Pregnant
Space Cows! Green Lizard Men!

Fighting really does suffer from the
non localised camera control. Trying to
juggle between two weapons at the same
time as igniting two dozen space bastards
while making view adjustments grows to
be more frustrating than challenging. I'd
also suggest that
there is really not
enough

ammunition on
the levels. Yes,

the sword and shield combo
is fun, but a few more rounds
for the BFG-type death machines
would certainly be welcome.

Pin-up
potential

And could we
not mention a character
based on Julie Strain?

Pin-up girl of a
generation, she is
probably the best
known model forSF-
Fantasy in the world.

Basing a game around her form,
and using what seems to be
her voice is a stroke of
marketing genius. Play

PCPP 75

REVIEW

ONLINE

5 , «

; ^ir Heavy Metal

- .1— i OmciM. \V«*tu

j -

around with the camera angles enough
and you'll see a part of julie that you never
saw on Lara Croft. Is this a good or bad
thing? I won't say. But there is potential to
have this character reach stratospheric
heights of fame and market recognition.

Nor is some of the music all that awful.
Occasionally some Eurotrash happy song
comes on, but by and large you'll find
yourself quietly paying attention to some
interesting beats.

Unfortunately, without the patch this
game clips like a damn schooner. You
won't know where you are or what the
hell you are walking through. Then there is
memory leakage. After about an hour the
game becomes akin to watching a steam
train pull out. Chug, chug,
chug. The game
should never have
reached gold in
this state.

FAKK 2 is not
exactly the most
brainy of games, but for
those of you who dig on the genre
and for those of you who've not found
something that attracts you yet, it's
most certainly worth a look.

Christian Read

Peering at the crack in the, er, ceiling

FOR

■ Great levels

■ Nice design

■ Gorgeous graphics

AGAINST

■ Bad clipping

■ Memory leakage

■ Heavy combat to
puzzle ratio

OVERALL

Some good old-
fashioned but
disposable fun

76 PCPP

REVIEW

AGE OF EMPIRES II

THE CONQUERORS

Ensemble continues its fine tradition of great add-ons

DETAILS

GENRE

Realtime Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (via Modem,
Internet)

DEVELOPER

Ensemble Studios

PUBLISHER

Microsoft

DISTRIBUTOR

Microsoft

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

TBA

NEED

P-166, 32Mb RAM,
200Mb HDD, 4xCD

WANT

PII-266, 64Mb RAM

ONLINE

www.microsoft.com/ga

mes/conquerors

The official site

aoe2.com

Comprehensive fan
site for the Age of
Empires series

www.montypython.net/s

cripts/attila.htm

The script from
Monty Python's
Attila the Hun Show,
followed by Attila
the Nun

D he main reason I became a

freelance writer is pretty simple. I
keep really weird hours. I've never, ever
been a morning person even when I was
a little kid. But right now it's ten to seven
in the morning, I can barely see, I'm
nearly out of smokes and I'm tasting
nothing but the grinds of the coffee I've
been drinking for the last ten hours.

I started playing this Age of Kings
expansion pack at nine last night and, frankly,

I can't see any more and I'm too pumped to
sleep. It's just the perfect addition to an
already addictive game.

Age of Empires II: Age of Kings came
out late last year. In fact, it was the first
game I reviewed for this publication. It
went straight to the top of the realtime
strategy pile and has stayed there. Pretty
much every game in the genre I've ever
reviewed has been up against it as a
benchmark and I can think of only one
game, Earth 2150, that approaches it. And I
reviewed that only last month.

So, how does one make a brilliant game
better? Well, you add even more
civilisations, you add extra weaponry and
units, you add new maps, and you add new
historical campaigns. Let's break 'em down
one at a time.

In keeping with the theme of the game -
that's conquest - most of the new races in the
game are based around the vast series of land
wars which rocked the late Middle Ages and
early Renaissance.

The Koreans, filled with tricky war
machines and the impressive turtle ships, are
a new arrival. Some of the most impressive
architecture comes with this culture. Then
there are the Aztecs, who have some of the
more elite infantry in the game as well as
fanatical zealots, but who seem to lack
something in the way of sheer technological
discipline. The Mayans are not only perhaps
the most industrious folk but will fiercely
defend their cities to the last. The Spanish
benefit from firepower and technological
bonuses as well as their own rigid religious
troops. My favourites would still have to be
the ghoulish Frankish throwing axemen and
now they are even better.

There are other unit improvements as
well. The Huns, who have an enhancement
called Atheism, have utterly lethal cavalry
units but don't much hold with building. The
Aztecs have the hardcore psycho Elite Jaguar
Soldiers. However, I'd argue that the Spanish,
and the Conquistador units they specialise in
as well as their advanced Trebuchet units, are
simply too powerful. Not that this spoils the

game or anything of the sort, but you should
be aware of it for multiplayer purposes. Watch
out for Chinese rocketry also.

The new troops and soldiers also
complement the fact that each race, both in
the original game and the expansion, has new
technology that is completely unique to it. Not
always is this a visible piece of machinery or a
building. The Aztecs have the Garland Wars
that train elite troops to be even more elite
and the Japanese have a Kataparuto, which
boosts this nation's lack of siege machinery.
The Vikings have the fearsome Beserkergang,
and theTeutons use crenellated castles.

The expansion also makes a variety of
improvements to the artificial intelligence
used in gameplay. A good example is that
villagers now automatically begin harvesting
a resource after they construct the
corresponding mine, and high level siege
weapons won't automatically attack an enemy
target in the midst of friendly troops. A simple
addition automatically reseeds farms and
military units have more preprogrammed
actions to take. In addition, the expansion
adds new arctic and tropical terrain tilesets
and rather fetching new building designs.

With these come new map designs including
geographically accurate maps of certain hotly
contested areas around the world.

78 PCPP

Mayans

RACIAL STEREOTYPES

pleasantly
authentic to
a big, nerdy
history buff
like myself

The new races all have particular strengths and weaknesses. The Spaniards have the
Superiority skill which allows even their workers to be an effective military force.
Without a doubt they are the most effective military race and are the race to play for
gun heads. The Huns use Atheism as their speciality trait. This increases enemy Wonder
building time and made Hun spies far more effective. They also have cheap and savage
cavalry and are one for player who likes mobile strikes at many enemies. The Aztecs
pride themselves on their martial ability and have several unique units. The Garland
Wars increases their already formidable infantry. Aztecs suit players who enjoy having
a strong military force which is flexible. The Mayans may not be a military power but
certainly have bonuses that make them the most industrious of the races. Walls at half
price and 20% longer lasting resources means they are one for the empire builders.

My, what an interesting weathervane!

The Japanese map is an outline of the main
islands of Japan and the map of Texas
accurately represents a big, hellish dry land
mass. The oasis maps reflect an Arabic area.
Actually, they are not as cool as they sound, in
that they are just random maps and as such
the battles fought there have no real purpose.

Of course, during the excellent campaigns
certain historical events are indeed recreated
and this time there is a focus on the wars that
were conducted by the famous conquerors of
history. Attila, El Cid, Harald and others are all
represented here. The wars are fierce and, in
a major improvement over the unimpressive
visuals of the "geographic" maps, we follow
these leaders through their entire histories,
including all the historical major battles they
fought. These are hard, complicated and, to a
big nerdy history buff like myself, surprisingly
and pleasantly authentic, keeping up the high
level of research and accuracy the initial
game maintained.

Oddly enough, one can detect the
presence of the firstperson online shooter
influencing the game. New styles of modes
tailor-made for online gaming include:
Capture the Flag, which is generally a match
where a Wonder must be defended; The
King of the Hill, where the centre of the map
must be held against all and sundry; and
the Race to Wonder, where the first to build
and hold a Wonder wins.

Amongst all these big flashy features are
a host of smaller ones that may go
unnoticed. Yet combined they add up to a
thorough washing off of barnacles from the
hull (Er, nice metaphor - Ed). Resource costs
for certain buildings have been reallocated
and the stat levels of a few soldier units
have been reassigned. Chatting online
shows different colours and the map editor
is easier to use. There are far too many
changes to really go into but it shows an
attention to detail and welcome
appreciation of fan feedback.

So, do you need this game to continue
playing Age of Kings? No, but if you are a
hardcore fan then you will be impressed by
the host of improvements. It succeeds on
every level as an expansion, both in
complementing the original and improving
upon the concepts within. Just make sure
you get some damn sleep.

FOR

■ It's Age of Kings,
but better

■ Enough said

AGAINST

■ Some of the new
maps are somewhat
pointless

OVERALL

A polished follow-
up to an already
brilliant game

PCPP 79

Christian Read

REACH FOR THE STARS

Reach for the stats, more like, surely?

DETAILS

GENRE

Space 'n' Stats

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

SSG

PUBLISHER

SSI

DISTRIBUTOR

Mattel Interactive

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

TBA

NEED

P-200, 64Mb RAM

WANT

PII-400, 128Mb RAM

LET'S GET ALONG

his is a 'fun' game. Inverted
commas are necessary because
Reach For The Stars, while enjoyable, is
not 'fun' in the sense that Quake or C&C
are 'fun'. Those games, owing to their
superficiality, appeal to almost everyone.

However, in-depth strategy jaunts such
as this lend themselves to a specific type of a
gamer - one who likes to get into the nitty
gritty statistical details of running a ruthless
galactic empire. A gamer who enjoys
plotting a battle rather than fighting it; a
gamer who prefers the ruthless red tape of
bureaucracy to the callous brutality of
unplanned war.

Hellish aliens

Technically speaking - which is the type of
language fans of this genre will understand
- Reach For The Stars is not exactly
spectacular. The graphics are decent at best,
and audio treats are few and far between.
Although it must be said that the lack of 3D
trickery and other such aesthetic treats
somewhat adds to overall austere
atmosphere of the game - which is, at its
essence, simple and to the point strategy

gaming. There are some noticeable design
bugs - such as overlapping textures and
jittery Al - which really cannot be attributed
to anything else but sloppiness on the
programmers part. Nothing major perhaps,
but noteworthy nonetheless.

One flaw which is major, however, is the
interface. Apparently quite some time was
spent developing what is touted as a
completely user-friendly interface - fun and
easy to use. Well, owing to often absurd
complexity inherent in issuing simple orders,
the interface is about as 'fun' as getting
punched in the stomach by your grandma.
Take note SSG: if we want to send a ship to
another planet, just let us click on the ship,
click on the planet and be done with it. Don't
make us take a course in quantum
mechanics and mathematical theory before
we can figure out how to do it.

Set in a hyper-future reminiscent of Star
Trek, the plot essentially revolves around the
standard megalomaniacal lust that
apparently possesses the entire universe
around 2050. Out of the sixteen races in the
game, I encountered just two that were
friendly. The others, particularly the ones

One of the coolest features of this
game is the fact that there are up to
sixteen separate races to choose from
in various scenarios.

Are you a rampant colonialist intent
on getting galactic domination as
quickly as possible? Then the nomadic,
Starship Trooper-esque Hive are your
men... bugs... aliens... whatever.

What is even cooler, though, is the
fact that races are not limited to specific
sets of technology owing to the nature
of the games R&D engine. This,
apparently, makes way for an endless
amount of gameplay scenarios. But
considering all technologies essentially
do the same thing, I would take that
statement with a grain of salt.

that look like bugs, would usually reply to my
offers of diplomatic friendliness with a much
more political version of "Go to hell...". This
was then followed by the computer
informing me that I was at war with the said
race - which is a much more political way of
saying "...Or we'll send you there".

Apparently, the first thing that scientists
will think when they invent the intergalactic
hyperdrive in a few hundred years is "Great!
Now we can travel to other planets and
slaughter their inhabitants! Yay for us!"

However, future galactic oppressors
and software moguls, should remember:
contrary to the opinion of colonial Britain,

I 80 PCPP

A CHALLENGE

Reach For The Stars was originally released in 1983 on the old
ApplellE. Apparently. You see, the thing is, no one has a copy.

After spending hours looking on the internet, I found not so
much as a mention of the original version. Refusing to be
discouraged, I then proceeded to ring SSG - the makers of the
game - to see if they could supply me with a copy or a
screenshot or anything at all helpful.

Nothing. The people who made the game can offer no material evidence for its
existence. So, if any of you Indiana Jones types out there fancy a bit of treasure hunting
and actually do manage to Find a copy of the original, let me know will ya?

interactivity drops, leaving you staring
at a bunch of output numbers

and exploit it. Oh wait, not that one. That
one's got a methane-based atmosphere, not
too healthy for the old lungs that. That one?
Well, yeah, I guess you could use that one,
but look at the gravity statistics - not very
conducive to building, is it? New weapons
you say? You've got hands - research them.
This game gives you nothing for free, and
everything's your responsibility. Detail, my
friend, detail. And this is where the inverted
commas come in. Detail: is it 'fun'?

Cerebral pleasures

In order to answer this question, let's take a
look at a piece of marketing propaganda

should be fun. Yet the fact that, once you've
designed your ship, you have very little
control over it in a battle scenario seems to
negate any purpose in bothering to design
it in the first place. The same goes for
industry. Once you have built it, the level of
interactivity drops to almost zero, leaving
you staring at a bunch of output numbers.
So, why should we detail the specifics of a
particular aspect of the game if we can't
control it fully?

This can be answered in a single word:
planning. It's the planning that makes Reach
For The Stars and games like it fun. If you are
attracted by this type of enjoyment, chances

are you're not going to care whether or not
you can fly your warship - you just want to
see it in action, right? Reach For The Stars
offers the cerebral pleasure of seeing a
carefully plotted course of action take effect
without having to get your hands dirty, a
pleasure I can fully appreciate without
necessarily liking it.

Reach For The Stars is a good game -
and I will leave out the inverted commas
this time. It won't appeal to everyone, but I
hear there is a higher proportion of gamers
amongst astro-physicists than the rest of
the community.

Daniel Staines

running an empire does not just mean
annihilating everything and sorting out the
rubble later. It means dealing with the
details of army bureaucracy. It means
maintaining a consistent industry and
pumping a good amount of funds into
research. It means taking a course in astro
physics before you can even begin to move
your cursor. In a word, it means detail.

You wanna build a ship? You're gonna
have to design that ship first, boy. And let's
not forget the resources you'll be needing.
Where do you get those resources? Well,
there's plenty of planets out there - pick one

from SSG's website: "Designing your own
space jumping, enemy crushing starship
should be one of the real pleasures of
being a space tyrant. In Reach
For The Stars, we have
made the process
pretty easy, so
that it's
basically a
procedure
that you will
really want to do."

The italics in that quote
Designing the details of your warship

for

■ Engrossing

■ A turn-based
dream for some

AGAINST

■ Too detailed

■ A turn-based
nightmare for others

OVERALL

Hardcore gaming at
Its hardest

PCPP 81

REVIEW

KISS PSYCHO CIRCUS

Please insert a suitably unfunny Kiss pun here before we go to print

DETAILS

GENRE

Platform Shoe
Firstperson Action

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (1-16 via TCP/IP)

DEVELOPER

Third Law
Interactive

PUBLISHER

Take 2 Interactive

DISTRIBUTOR

Jack of all Games

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-266, 64Mb RAM,
4xCD, 3D Videocard
(D3D), 350Mb HDD

WANT

PII-350, 16MB3D
Videocard

ONLINE

wwwJusspsychocircusxom

Official game site

VYWw.geocities.com/Area5

1/Hollow/2648/home.htm

Wanna find out more
about the comics,
do you? Ya weirdo!

82 PCPP

ove or loathe them, Kiss have
achieved a remarkably high status
in modern pop culture. Most people over
the age of 25 will probably have some
embarrassing stories to share involving
a tennis racket, a locked bedroom
door, and the latest Kiss cassette. "It's
okay Mum, I wasn't touching myself
inappropriately, I was just playing air
guitar to the latest hot Kiss song!"

But the time of Kiss has (thankfully)
passed and most of us have moved on. So it
begs the question as to why a
new start-up development
house (Third Law), freshly
escaped from the evil clutches of
John Romero's ego (Ion Storm),
decided to take on as their first project
a game that is not only about a decidedly
embarrassing relic of a glam band, but
based on a comic that seems to be a
combination of some vaguely gothic carnival
gone wrong with said faded glam band. Go
on, think up a scenario that sounds sillier.

Platform Boot Shoot

But what is the story, then? Well, I'll be
honest - 1 didn't pay too much attention to
the backstory. There was one, of course,
lovingly detailed in the manual and

opening cinematic. But this is a firstperson
shooter, after all. I'm sure that if you're into
faux Goth comics about warriors that
gradually turn into members of Kiss to take
on some devil child thing, you'll be quite
pleased with the storyline of the game.

For the rest of us, however, there are four
realms for to blast through, each giving you
the opportunity to take on a different avatar
with slightly different weapons at his
disposal. Unsurprisingly, those four
characters are based on the four members
of Kiss. As you journey around each realm,
you gradually find different items that
increase your power and armour -
and eventually turn you in to
the actual Kiss members,
face paint, platform
booties and all. I couldn't
stop giggling at this part...

Third Law has done
some very good work with
the Lithtech engine - the
detail of the buildings and
ancillary elements of the
realms are pretty, the
level design is decent if
uninspired, and the game runs
nice and smooth even with a
host of enemies on screen.

THE AVATARS

So who are these avatars that turn into
the members of Kiss? It's a little
confusing (and, some would say, silly),
but here they are;

• Pablo Ramirez, 21. An avid sword
collector well versed in ancient religions.
Alter Ego; Paul Stanley (lead singer)

• Patrick Scott, 27. A gifted puzzle
solver, Patrick personifies the
instinctual beast in us all. Alter Ego:
Peter Criss (drums)

• Andy Chang, 33. A former Yakuza
operative, Andy dresses sloppily in
cowboy clothing (I'm not kidding, this is
straight from his 'bio') and is a smoker.
Alter Ego: Ace Frehley (guitar)

• Gabriel Gordo, 31. A master of Tai Chi,
Gabriel is well educated and patient yet
still embodies all the darkest impulses of
the mortal soul. Alter Ego: Gene
Simmons (really long tongue)

Magic baddies

This last point - regarding the adversaries -
is important because you will be Paced with
a hell of a lot of enemies swamping you
mercilessly almost all the time. Not since
Doom has a (reasonably high profile) FPS
featured so many swarms of enemies, and
it's an approach on the part of Third Law
that I actually quite enjoyed for a while.
You're not hiding in shadows or jumping out
from around a corner to pick off an
opponent; instead you're panicking,
shooting anything that moves and trying to
get to the enemies with ranged capabilities
while dodging the hordes that are
attempting to swarm you. It's a really
exhilarating experience, and one that
Psycho Circus attempts, somewhat
successfully, to evoke.

I say only somewhat successfully
because the way that Third Law have
chosen to introduce most of the enemies is

through spawn points. Once triggered, the
spawners will keep throwing out masses
of one type of beast until you shoot the
spawn point. In theory, this sounds quite a
novel and interesting challenge for the
player. Well, it is and it isn't. It makes for a
slightly different challenge, but also one
that quickly becomes old, and you may
well find yourself quite bored with the
tactics required. Run toward spawn points
while jumping over enemies, kill spawn
point, turn around and kill spawned
monsters. Yawn.

Perhaps Third Law realised this, and
added in another way for monsters to attack
- make them materialise out of thin air
behind you. Clean out one area and as you
move on towards the next spawn point,
magically the once clear area behind
becomes infested with all new monsters.
Scary at first, but by the hundredth time it's
gone far beyond frustrating.

ARE YOU A REAL KISS FAN?

Answer these questions to find
out how much of a loser you are!

Answers are below.

1. Who designed the Kiss logo?

2. Did the band really put some of
their blood in their comic book
dye vat?

3. What was Gene Simmons' occupation previous to Kiss?

A. Name the 1983 movie that Gene Simmons was offered the lead
romantic role in

5. Was land bought by the band to build a Kiss theme park?

6. Name the country that has banned the Kiss logo?

ANSWERS

7. Ace Frehely, when he was an art student in Manhattan

2. Scarily enough, yes.

3. He was a 6th grade teacher. Yes, really

A. Flash dance. 'What a feeling’ that would have been!

5. Yes. Thankfully, it never eventuated though

6. Germany - the stylized SS looks a little too Nazi party-ish, you see

dodging the hordes that are
attempting to swarm you

Kiss Quake

Weapon powers and variety are critically
important to an FPS and though Psycho
Circus doesn't disappoint exactly, it probably
won't really rock your world either. The
weapons are pretty standard fare derived
from those offered in Quake - a melee
weapon, a rapid fire cannon (Zero cannon)
that doesn't do much damage, a shotgun
(Magma cannon) good for close up damage,
a rocket launcher (Windblade), and four
varieties of BFGs, one for each character's
'special weapon'. The only item missing
from this lineup is a grenade launcher,
which is given to you in the form of
explosive jack-in-the-boxes picked up on
your travels. They're pretty much worthless
however, with almost no range at all and a
powerless bang. Also on offer is a whip
(Scourge) which can be used as a railgun-
like weapon with a long reach and as a
grappling hook.

The weapons do suit the monsters in the
game pretty well, and the amount of ammo
left lying around is just about right in
volume - but they're not really powerful
enough to work well in multiplay. In fact,
the entire multiplayer setup seems a bit
tacked on; play isn't all that balanced and
there isn't really enough to keep one
amused especially when a game of Quake 3
or UT is compared.

So what does it all come down to? Well,
Psycho Circus is a decent game, and I did
enjoy it for a fair amount of time running
around and blasting wacky creatures whilst
dressed up like a Kiss member. However, the
above flaws mean it just isn't good enough
to get any jaded FPS gamer's attention.

Unless said gamer also happens to be a
member of the Kiss Army (in which case it
wouldn't matter what this review said). It's
worth a look, but there are far better FPS
games out there.

Gareth Jones

FOR

■ Kitschy cock-
rockin' fun

■ A very doom-like
environment

■ You can blow up
the radios playing
Kiss songs

AGAINST

■ Nothing that new

■ Pedestrian
weapons

■ Respawn enemies

■ Rather half-
baked multiplayer

OVERALL

You may well want
to Roc k'n’ Roll all
nl-i-l-ight, but you
won't play Psycho
Circus ev-er-y day

PCPP 83 I

REVIEW

WARLORDS BATTLECRY

The game that proves realtime doesn't mean turn-based without the turns

DETAILS

GENRE

Hero Led RTS
melange

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (1-4, IPX)

DEVELOPER

SSI

PUBLISHER

Mattel

DISTRIBUTOR

Mattel

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

TBA

NEED

P-233, 64Mb RAM,
4xCD

WANT

PI 1-300, 128Mb RAM,
3D Soundcard

ONLINE

vwwjwartordsbattJecryxom

The official site

www.ssg.com.au

See what else the
developer is up to

www.mediafarm.no/fors

oksgard/kukaster.asp

Indulge your desire
for cow-tossing

84 PCPP

Those spikes make for some imaginative fortification

n here have been two game genres
that in a lot of ways defined
gaming in the 90s. The first was the
firstperson shooter, and the second
would have to be top-down strategy,
turn-based then realtime. So, it's
appropriate that in the 21st century we
receive a new offering from one of the
first series in the latter genre.

The original Warlords was a bit of a classic
- it's unique interfacing I would claim directly
influenced Warcraft and the like and as such
is to be respected. For this reason, Warlords
Battlecry is such a disappointment. Not
because it's bad because it's not, it's just that,
well, it's really not that good. Let me explain.
SSI did the Reach for the Stars games, and the
original Warlords were, like Reach, turn-based.
This is their first realtime offering and I feel
they've strayed from their field of excellence.

Ready to order?

In the last three years, we have seen several
advances in the overall feel if not format of
RTS. The struggle of course is to change the
feel of turn-based combat into realtime and
frankly, it fails. Mainly this is due to simple
gameplay. Turn-based is a far more precise
mathematical game. It's Chess, it's Go, it's
Poker. Odds must be calculated and risks

must be taken and vectors computed. This
was where Warlords always stood above its
competitors. You didn't enter combat until
you could be sure of the strength of a force.
Battlecry gives the impression that larger
forces are the only necessity for victory. The
planning once required is missing and
leaves a glaring flaw in the gameplay.

Such a flaw is compounded by that fact
that the interface is slightly less than
intuitive. In fact, it's just a bit of a pain. A
realtime game needs to be highly reactive. A
one-click system is a serious need in RTS, but
Battlecry has an overly complicated method
of play. All troop control comes from one
menu. To utilise this you must place the
cursor and hence the controls (walk, fight,
guard, form up) off the combat screen.

Not so bad, sure, but then when you want
to actually change the direction that a
troop is walking in, again you must click
on the menu. Change orders. Want
your guys to
fight only
specific

targets like enemy heroes? Click on the
menu. Change orders. Want to separate
units to perform different tactical
manoeuvres? Click on the menu. Change
orders It's time consuming, irritating,

hidebound by tactical turn based hold overs
and just a pain in the ass (Nnngh! - Ed),
especially in the middle of dire combat. After
all, when Dark Elves are chewing your flanks
you'll not appreciate the time it takes access
various menus. One click is all it should take.

Perhaps you are already wrinkling your
nose in disgust at this game. Well, don't be
quite so hasty, because there are some good
points. Warlords has always relied on
powerful heroes to advance gameplay and
strengthen forces, and this time they've
continued that trend. The generals and
lieutenants of the armies are, well,
excuse this colloquialism, but
they goddamn rock! Nothing
like taking your kick ("arse" -
Ed) characters into battle
and watching the
pathetic little troops
line up to die.
Graphically they
stand out from the
rest of your armies
and do make an
interesting addition
to gameplay. This
becomes more evident when
mission specs state that these
powerful characters have to

WE COULD BE HEROES

survive until the end of scenario. The
temptations against using them tactically
wars against the need to keep them safe
and can be a tricky thing to balance.

Despite its realtime switch, Battlecry has
maintained a look comparable to most turn-
based games. Typically, RTS gamers like their
eye candy, but this isn't pretty. Sure, it's good
to look at and all seems to be in scale -
except cavalry is disproportionately large -
but nothing is particularly magnificent about
it. Everything moves well, the landscapes are
easily recognisable and the units move with
realism and grace. But the spells of Majesty
are better rendered and there are better
architecture designs in Invictus.

Sound is again pretty standard. Yes, the
occasional voice is heard and sometimes a
nice theme will be played over the gameplay
itself, but nothing to make you prick up yours
ears and snap your fingers in groovy time.

Do you get the impression it's all average?

Bottlenecked guerillas

If something does really stand out about this
game then it's in the scenarios and
campaign. Divided up into good and evil
armies, these are very interesting to use
tactically. Keeping individual figures on the
field safe from harm is not the only facet of
play that keeps the brain attentive. Often
landscape is designed to be used in the
missions and campaigns. Things like
bottlenecks, plateaus, lakes and all the rest
can be used to plan offensive and defensive
strategic commands. Sometimes even the
most simple scenarios are used: just basic
stuff like being outnumbered or having to
use Guerilla techniques, or ambushes.
Viewed through the eyes of veteran war
game designers they become a new kind of
fight. They've have been so under-used that
one forgets how much fun the classics
actually are; battles you have to sit down
and plan out.

Let your heroes be the ones who take on the bad guys in this
game. They are the best suited for taking on powerful individual
units anyway and the game gets really fun when two major players
site each other over the field and rush to battle. But while they are
doing that, use your other soldiers as a skirmish or defensive shield.
Flanking and rear attacks will kill just about any body.

cavalry is disproportionately large

The engine used to make this is nicely
advanced. Your archers won't stand one
foot away from marauding monsters. They'll
launch arrows from reasonable distances
and work well in the formations you give
them. Monsters and enemies also benefit
from this, and will use formations and
tactical displays against your own troops. It
can make the game a lot harder but I'm
telling you, there is nothing like a big fight
against smart dudes. If only the interface
made it easier...

The main problem with the game is
very simple: it is not an advance on
anything, it has not perfected an old idea,
and it does not even sacrifice the hard
components of a game to focus on plot
and atmosphere. It's enjoyable but really
rather ordinary.

I hate giving this game a negative review
because it's got a large history of Australian
involvement in the franchise but essentially it
is nothing more than average. The design
team really needed to understand that the
market place has evolved beyond this form
of gaming and updated the franchise to
reflect this move. While Warlords: Battlecry is
something you could probably give a miss,

Warlords 4 is still coming, and it promises
genuine turn-based strategy.

Christian Read

FOR

■ Nice strategic
elements

■ Great Hero units

AGAINST

■ Indelicate interface

■ Poor plot

■ Unoriginal design

OVERALL

Turn-based into
realtime just
doesn't quite fit

PCPP 85

REVIEW

ALL STAR TENNIS 2000

Your chance to “be" Lleyton Hewitt

DETAILS

GENRE

Sports Sim

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (1-4)

DEVELOPER

Aqua Pacific

PUBLISHER

Ubi Soft

DISTRIBUTOR

Ubi Soft

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-166, 32Mb RAM

WANT

PII-266, 64Mb RAM

ONLINE

www.ubisoft.co.uk/

It's rumoured that it
won’t be released in
the US, so you'll
need to visit our
"local" European
site for any patches
and addons.

FOR

■ Nice ball physics

■ Real players to
compete against

AGAINST

■ Dated graphics

■ Dodgy Al

■ No atmosphere

OVERALL

More a drop volley
than a smash

FAMILIAR FACES

Ul>i SOU

The old glue-on-the-service-line trick

Unfortunately, there seem to be other
things inherited from the console versions,
the graphics being the main one. The game
runs in 640x480 resolution with no obvious
anti-aliasing and no opportunities to change
any graphical setting. This makes for a
pixellated view when compared to other
games already on the market.

All the standard tennis modes are there.
Exhibition for the one-off game, while
Tournament and Season modes provide a
longer lived experience and a bit more of a
challenge as you progress through the
rounds. Speaking of challenge, most gamers
will find that once they get used to the
response time of the controls, they will
quickly master the single difficulty setting
that is available.

Advantage receiver

The shining light on all this is the physics.
Sure the graphics and the Al aren't crash
hot, but the way the ball moves is realistic.
Even the close calls that at first glance

appear incorrect turn out to be accurate
from the replays.

The players also move realistically,
although there are some odd flaws with the
ball not hitting the racquet properly, or
occasionally the players will appear to be
double-jointed and have this amazing
ability to force the racquet right back
against their arm.

The surrounds are disappointing in their
lack of animation - ball boys, umpires,
linesmen, and audience are all totally
motionless - and the only way the
atmosphere works is by the odd call of
encouragement or cheer of the crowd at the
completion of a good rally.

Overall, All StarTennis 2000 isn't really
any improvement on previous titles, but that
doesn't have to be all bad. After all, you're
given the opportunity to show Lleyton
Hewitt how to really play tennis. Just don't
look for it to satisfy your Anna Kournikova
mixed doubles fantasies.

Andrew Parsons

The selection screen allows you to choose from 32 tennis players from around the
world. Some are famous, like our own Lleyton, while others are unknowns, except to
the hardcore tennis fan.

Can you guess whom these faces belong to?

Answers:

Hi/wan uo^Aan Q 'uaiJanjj OAeqsnr) 3 '^aips eJeqjeg g 'zaujijeyy e^ipuo} yj

D ll StarTennis has finally been

released on the PC after enjoying
much success on the consoles, and
appears to have retained the same easy
accessibility to be found in the "99"
version that appeared on the
PlayStation and N64.

Sports titles can be easy to produce,
especially when based on sports such as
tennis. This is due to the simplicity of the rules
and low number of elements or objects that
need to be tracked at any one time. Indeed,
many companies have attempted to recreate
tennis, right from the very first computer game
called Pong, but the majority are disappointing.

All StarTennis is the latest attempt to push
the game of champions to the fore [sic] of
every gamer's screen. It boasts a full
complement of real players, both female and
male, and eight different courts from various
places around the world are represented.

Deuce

To appeal to the largest market, the
developer has kept everything simple by
retaining a control method similar to that
used on the consoles. Four directional
buttons along with four different shot
buttons serve (Groan - Ed) all the player's
needs. The shot types available are generic,
and are affected by the direction the player is
moving when striking the ball.

86 PCPP

You want it all.

You want games news and you want it now.

You want the latest reviews and you want them real.
You want downloads and you want them first.

You want your favourite games magazines online.

more content

REVIEW

WARGAMES HEAVEN

Is a duo of hardcore, turn-based strategy games from Talonsoft

DETAILS

GENRE

3D Turn-based
wargame

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (1-16, LAN
or modem)

DEVELOPER

Talonsoft

PUBLISHER

Take-Two Interactive

DISTRIBUTOR

Jack of All Games

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-200, 16Mb RAM,
250Mb HDD

WANT

PII-233, 64Mb RAM

FOR

■ Simple interface

■ Solid graphics

■ Great variety

AGAINST

■ Some of the
scenarios are
probably too big to
stay manageable
with the interface.
But at this price? -
nothing really!

OVERALL

An excellent
compilation for the
discerning wargamer

As these three views of the battle for Arnhem Bridge show,
Europe in Flames is designed with situational awareness in mind
- always the most difficult task in a computer wargame. The 2D
perspective gives players a good feel for the general tactical
situation and the location of objectives; the 3D view drills in on
the detail, showing obstacles and identifying the best routes
and targets; and the final view highlights the bases of all units
to assist in location and movement. Just about anything can be
highlighted in this way, including leaders, the supply situation,
and organisational groupings.

BURN, EUROPE, BURN

Don't fences go around bases?

D alonsoft has pretty much had the
historical computer wargames
market sewn up for the last few years, and
with good reason. The Battleground and
Campaign sets combined solid graphics,
meticulous research and standardised
interfaces to dominate the 3D turn-based
strategy market, while The Operational
Art of War I & II set the standard for
transferring the traditional hex-based
boardgame concept to the PC. With some
potential challengers looming on the
horizon, the great news is that Talonsoft
has released a couple of excellent value
compilations and add-on packs that
might just attract some new fans and
rekindle interest amongst veterans of
the genre. Given the convenience and
relatively low price of the new combined
editions, many existing users will have
some serious decisions to make.

Europe in Flames

Europe in Flames presents the entire Campaign
Series on two CDs, including the West Front Elite
Edition (with Battle Pack 1), East Front II and the
Operation Sea Lion expansion pack. The net
result is almost 300 scenarios, 38 historical
campaigns and online support for up to 16
players. Just in case that lot isn't enough for you,

first rate scenario editors allow you to create
unique battles using any of the thousand or so
units available in the database. Remarkably for
a compilation, full documentation is provided,
and the common interface means that jumping
from one theatre of war to the next is hassle
free. Operation Sea Lion has also been released
as a stand-alone expansion, with the
opportunity to fight hypothetical battles in
Britain adding a terrific dimension to the series.

Both West and East Front scenarios in
Europe in Flames have held up remarkably
well since the Campaign series was first
released. Actions range in size from small

company or battalion sized engagements, to
major campaigns involving the command of
entire armies over huge operational areas. A
straightforward and highly configurable
control system means that you can
concentrate on tactics rather than mastering
the interface, with onscreen prompts ensuring
that nothing is overlooked. The better than
average combat model is matched by solid
graphics and sound, and the Al makes a
reasonable fist of it - although human
opponents are always the best with this
series. Europe in Flames is simply unequalled
as a value-priced 3D representation ofWWII.

OPERATION SEA LION

Packaged with Europe in Flames, the Operation Sea
Lion expansion pack can also be purchased separately
by those who already own West Front. Although
Hitler's planned invasion of England was actually
cancelled after the Luftwaffe failed to control the
skies in the Battle of Britain, Operation Sea Lion gives
you the chance to see what might have happened if
things had gone differently. British forces include the
regular army, the Home Guard and resistance groups,
all of which must be coordinated to combat German
paratroopers and amphibious landings. You just can't
pass up the opportunity to fight over places with
names like Tunbridge Wells! Includes 30 scenarios and
3 campaigns in Britain and mainland Europe.

88 PCPP

FLASHPOINT KOSOVO

DETAILS

Flashpoint Kosovo is available as part of the
Century of Warfare compilation or as an
expansion pack forTOAW II. It includes
eleven new scenarios (of which Kosovo is just
one), all of which are of the larger variety.
The mix of units is great, with air power and
air mobile operations playing a far bigger
role than they did in the earlier TOAW II
scenarios, and some interesting geographical
areas are included. It's basically more of the
same, although the recent and topical nature
of some scenarios adds spice. In particular,
the sheer complexity of modern warfare is
apparent - despite the CNN view that
airpower can do it all alone! Great value as
part of the compilation, but I'm not sure I'd
fork out for it on its own.

Century of Warfare

The Operational Art of War I & II need very
little introduction to serious wargamers, as no
other commercial release comes close to
matching their attention to detail, superb
combat modelling, or the sheer scale of the
scenarios on offer. TOAW I was an incredibly
ambitious project when released in 1998,
covering all of the major actions between
1939 and 1955. The following year, TOAW II
introduced an improved game engine and
took players into the modern era. Talonsoft
have now re-released the entire series,
including add-on packs, on a single CD under
the title of Century of Warfare. Documentation
is again provided (although it continues the

a complex, time consuming and
graphically unexciting product

TOAW II tradition of being poorly structured
and written), the interface and combat
resolution models are standardised between
the two volumes, and the whole thing is
presented onscreen as a single game.

All up, Century of Warfare has over 70
scenarios, including the Flashpoint Kosovo
expansion pack (also available separately),

and some bonus WWI engagements that
were not in the original releases. As
expected, the database is as good as you're
ever going to get, containing just about
everything that moves or shoots in the 20th
Century, and the scenario and event editors
enable players to design their own historical
or hypothetical campaigns. For many fans,

the ability to design such comprehensive
scenarios has always been the best thing
aboutTOAW, and no one will be disappointed
with the combined capabilities of these two
games. Despite a reasonably straightforward
interface, Century of Warfare is a complex,
time consuming, and graphically unexciting
product, that is arguably more of a model
than a game. Doesn't matter! TOAW I & II are
still the best serious wargames on the
shelves today, and Century of Warfare offers
remarkable value for the socially challenged.

Major Des McNicholas

GENRE

Turn-based wargame

MULTIPLAYER

Single, Hot Seat or
PBEM

DEVELOPER

Talonsoft

PUBLISHER

Take-Two Interactive

DISTRIBUTOR

Jack of All Games

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-200, 16Mb RAM,
150Mb HDD

WANT

PII-233, 64Mb RAM

ONLINE

For unofficial
scenarios, strategy
guides and
opponents for
Century of Warfare
& Europe in Flames.

www.talonsoft.com

talonsoft.com/warroom

www.wargamer.com

FOR

■ Incredible depth

■ Long term play

■ Scenario editor

AGAINST

■ Too big for some

■ Poor manual

■ No tutorials

OVERALL

Two of the best
together in one
great package

81 *

PCPP 89

PIZZA SYNDICATE

Would you like gameplay with that?

DETAILS

GENRE

Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

DEVELOPER

Software 2000

PUBLISHER

Software 2000

DISTRIBUTOR

OV Software

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-166, 32Mb RAM,
200Mb HDD

WANT

PII-350, 64Mb RAM

D t took a while, but those jokes

about the Mafia and their pizzerias
being fronts for money laundering have
finally turned out a game - Pizza Syndicate
- where your ticket to the top lies in the
best pizza topping you can create.

The layout is pretty familiar, being similar
to Theme Hospital or Rollercoaster Tycoon, in
that your success is measured by the
response to your restaurant by virtual
customers. An original idea, Pizza Syndicate
aims quite high, but misses by a fraction due
to the immense amount of features that
need to be controlled. Along side with the
usual running of a restaurant, like staffing
and supply demands, you also need to really
take care of business. Not enough cash? Get
a bank loan. Need staff? Go and hire some.
Not enough customers? Try an advertising
campaign. The trick in all of this is not to
blow your budget whilst trying to get ahead,
and keep abreast of the situation at hand.

The Mafia side of things kicks in when
you want help to knock out the competition.
This ranges from various sabotage methods

Plzz* Noojme

Where home delivery means sending round the boyz to get heavy

such as rat and roach infestation, mouldy
cheese destroying the opposition's stock, to
outright warfare - complete with guns and
bombs and dumb gangsters. But be careful,
as this is a two-way street where your business
can go downhill in the blink of an eye.

The in game tutorials do little to sort out
the confusion, after a while you find yourself
wondering why you're doing so well or badly.
You also start asking if you'll ever find out.

Agata Budinska

WACKY RACES

Zoom into Penelope's Pitstop before Dastardly's Dick

DETAILS

GENRE

Acrade Racing

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Infogrames

PUBLISHER

Infogrames

DISTRIBUTOR

Ozisoft

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-166, 32Mb RAM

WANT

PII-266, 64Mb RAM,
3D Videocard (D3D)

t seems like a few ice ages ago
when I first saw Wacky Races on
TV. God I hated it. How could any red-
blooded Ozzie lad watch a cartoon
whose heroes dressed like they
belonged on the back of a Gay Mardi
Gras float? It doesn't quite stand up to
South Park or Ren 8. Stimpy does it?

Wacky Races is quite possibly the most
inappropriate PC title we've seen in at least a
year. At least for adult gamers. If you have
young kids they may get some enjoyment
out of this one but apart from that. . .

Super Muttley Kart

This is essentially a kart racing game
utilising the characters from the animated
TV series, some of which are freely available
and others which need to be unlocked by
winning races. However, the game has a
few weak points that stop it from being as
much fun as it could have been.

The tracks are very dull and seem to
have been deliberately designed to be as
annoying as possible. The game also seems

to have some sort of built-in compensator
for the computer cars, so that it is impossible
to get any sort of lead over your opponents
no matter how well you drive.

When you combine that with the great
difficulty in getting pickups and the very
sloppy car handling you get a game which is
more frustrating than fun to play. It's quite
hard to understand why anyone bothered
converting this to the PC as it has console
written all over it.

George Soropos

ARCATERA

A novel idea ruined by dismal dialogue

u&i- 1 * ■ ippHp

Still a contender for the Best Sky Ever

A LACK OF CLASS

All tile and no substance

rcatera proves itself to be
something interesting in the world
of the RPC. Set within a finite gameworld
of one city, you have three weeks to
rescue a prince and stop a vicious gang
supported by the evil and dully named
Black Lords. Obviously the plot isn't the
interesting thing about all the game.
What makes it worth paying attention to
is the non-linear game setting.

On the surface, Arcatera is rather
unprepossessing. It has the four
character types that have been with
RPGs since the early 70s: Mage, Cleric,
Thief and Fighter. Boring stuff that
you've seen a million times
before. What's worse is that
the character design very
plain. There is nothing on the
surface of the game that really
invites you to delve deeper. But
should you do so you will be
rewarded with something that if it
isn't brilliant is certainly a different
gaming experience.

Arcatera grabs your attention
with an interesting blend of 2D and
3D graphics. All backgrounds are
pre-rendered, but your character is
a 3D polygonal figure whose
animation appears to have been
motion-captured. It's still a bit
choppy, especially when one is
moving over broken terrain, but
this is a great example of the effect.

Truly, the worst part about the game is
the lame ass characters. Clerics with about
five spells? No real god or deity or ethics,
but some dodgy non capitalised chaos
thing? The magician on a quest to avenge
her dead dad? The adventurer at least
whines about his father and the thief
had no motivation I can understand. Out
of preference, use the fighter. I'm pretty
sure his is the worst dialogue.

The backgrounds are
pretty and there are big
full motion intros for
the different characters
but no eyeball kick
beauty here.

Microcosmic

Where this game really
takes off is the non-
linear plot. You have
probably heard games
promise that before, but
the way that the various
plots and subplots are
structured here you will
find that this is probably
about the closest you will
get to free will in a game

microcosm. You can follow any series of
clues and can investigate what you want
when you want. Game events move in
realtime, so if you don't do anything about
saving a fair maiden, for instance, she'll die.
That leaves you without a series of clues and
contacts to work with. It's quite an
interesting set up and one I would
recommend to gamers without hesitation.

With one major exception. The dialogue in
Arcatera is bloody atrocious: "How art thee,
old buddy?", "Is that dost Okay?" The forced
archaic English, especially in combination
with the modern idiom is utterly ludicrous.
Also, and this is something I've noticed
with other games of European design,
everything, including the evil monsters
is very rounded and very smooth. It
takes an edge of the overall design
aesthetic of the game.

Ultimately, Arcatera has to be ruled
a bit of a dud, I'm afraid. No way does
it come up against the heavies of the
genre like Planescape: Torment or
Omikron. Its non-linear gameplay is
indeed rather interesting, but in the
context it's present - that of a tired
RPG quest - it doesn't really
matter. Without compelling
graphics and teeth grindingly bad
dialogue, there is no real reason to
stick around unless you are a hardcore
roleplayer hanging fora minor diversion
from the usual sort of experience.

Christian Read

DETAILS

GENRE

Roleplaying

MULTIPLAYER

DEVELOPER

Westka Ent.

PUBLISHER

Ubi Soft

DISTRIBUTOR

Ubi Soft

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

PII-233, 32Mb RAM,
8xCD

WANT

PII-300, 64Mb RAM

ONLINE

www.westka.com

The developer's site

FOR

■ The non-linear
plot is different

AGAINST

■ Insane Al

■ Ludicrous dialogue

■ Lack of pacing

OVERALL

Thou hast been
decreed to suck -
or is it sucketh?

49 .

PCPP 91

REVIEW

TACHYON THE FRINGE

Logan's run takes him to the Fringe and back

DETAILS

GENRE

Space Sim

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (Novaworld,
LAN, IPX)

DEVELOPER

Novalogic

PUBLISHER

Electronic Arts

DISTRIBUTOR

Electronic Arts

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-200, 32Mb RAM,
4xCD, 16Mb 3D
Videocard (D3D,
OpenGL)

WANT

PI 1-350, 64Mb RAM

www.bruce-

campbell.com

Bruce Campbell is
the voice of Jake
Logan, and long-
time friend of
legendary director
Sam Raimi. You
might remember
him from such
luminous artistic
events as Evil Dead,
Evil Dead 2,
Hudsucker Proxy,
Maniac Cop, Xena,
and Hercules.

n f you've had the opportunity to
read the blurb or a preview on
Tachyon: The Fringe, you would be
excused for having a bit of a drool. On
offer, apparently, are some stunning
visuals, an evolving and participatory
storyline, space combat, trading, a main
character given voice by sardonic cult
cool dude Bruce Campbell, open-ended
gameplay, and a bucketload more to
boot. It all sounds a little likeTachyon
was all set to become a modern day
Elite, doesn't it? Could it be?

It ain't the new Elite

Well, no. Developer Novalogic has instead
produced a tightly scripted game where the
evolving narrative takes precedence over
open-ended, free shootin' and tradin'
gameplay. This is not necessarily a bad
thing. In fact,Tachyon is a remarkably
playable and enjoyable space sim that
compares well with contemporaries such as
FreeSpace and Starlancer. Just don't expect to
be trawling through an entire galaxy and
choosing where you want to go. Instead
you'll be presented with a lovely and
engaging narrative that focuses around a
Han Solo-like character, Jake Logan.

As the game begins Logan has found
himself on the fringe of known space
(hence the game title) working small
contracts for some megacorporations,
which form the introductory missions for
the game. Everything is going swell, until
you become the scapegoat for a
corporation screw up, and end up
banished to the outer fringe, stripped of
your ship and all your cool armaments. A
few more missions kitted out in a crap ship
and then you're presented with a choice.

Do you attempt to work your way up the
corporation GalSpan hierarchy, working
exclusively for them? Or do you join the
outcast freedom fighters, the Bora, who are
fighting to own their own piece of space?

But it's still great

The way the game works is that there are a
number of starbases at which you dock
during the game to check out the job board,
kit out your ship with the money you receive
from completed missions, select your
wingmen, and sometimes even play the
pokies! There are usually three or four
mission choices with varying degrees of
difficulty (and remuneration), but this is
nearly all the latitude that the game gives

WHEN IS A MANUAL LIKE A BOOK?

Kudos to the Novalogic people who bothered to produce a large, interesting and
worthy manual - an increasingly rare achievement. More than just your standard
manual fare of 'back story and control key listing', Tachyon's "Guide to the Fringe"
really helps to flesh out the game universe as well as inform you of what you need to
know for the game in an entertaining fashion. Excellent job!

everything is swell,
until you become the
scapegoat for a
corporation screw up

you to make your own decisions. There are
ancillary missions that you'll be given the
opportunity to pick up along the way
though, just for some variety. The catch is
that to perform these missions you'll have to
accept another Bora or GalSpan mission and
then ignore it for a little bit whilst you jaunt
off, which is a bit clumsy really.

Ship control feels just right, and though
the enemy Al leaves a little to be desired
(hint: make sure you select 'hard' level,
anything else is just far too easy) dogfights
are fairly well balanced. For most missions
you're also given the option to take along a
wingman for a cut of the proceeds. During
the latter missions especially, the wingman
should be a godsend; sadly, often he is not -
it seemed just as likely for my wingman to
accidentally hit me as an enemy ship, no
matter what orders I gave him.

But these are really minor quibbles, and
once you get used to them you'll have a
whale of a time with Tachyon. The missions
are nicely varied, including escort jobs,
espionage, rescues, as well as the more
standard 'go here, kill everything' style.

Overall, Tachyon: The Fringe is an immensely
satisfying game for both single and
multiplayer, even if it's not the New Elite.

Gareth Jones

FOR

■ Immersive plot

■ Lovely graphics

■ Some excellent
mission variety

AGAINST

■ Too structured

■ Limited 'trading'
and exploring

■ Dubious Al

OVERALL

A worthy contender
in the space genre

92 PCPP

THE SIMS LIVIN' LARGE

Become a virtual game reviewer - see how much they don't get paid!

DETAILS

GENRE

Little People
Simulation

MULTIPLAYER

DEVELOPER

Maxis

PUBLISHER

Electronic Arts

DISTRIBUTOR

Electronic Arts

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-233, 32Mb RAM,
4xCD, Original copy
of The Sims

WANT

PI 1-350, 64Mb RAM

hen The Sims was first released
earlier this year, some very curious
changes began to happen to many a
gamer. Where once a hardcore Quake
clanner would be violently asserting his
or her I33t DM skills and waxing lyrical
about that legendary mid-air double
gib that was just 'siiiiiiiiiick', more
and more often one could watch an
argument develop between two
otherwise machismic
gamers over whether that
lamp really
complemented the
overall look of the
bathroom. Or how much
prettier that fuschia-
shaded wallpaper made the
dining room look. The Sims
had arrived.

Now that interest may be on
the wane, there's a fresh new
injection of life to the game
courtesy of the Livin' Large expansion
pack. Wa-hey! There's five new
career paths to rise through, a
slacker, paranormalist, hacker,
musician and journalist (you will be
pleased to note that a game reviewer
is one step ahead of a typesetter -
thanks Maxis!). Though apart from
some rather cool new uniforms it still
doesn't make much difference what job you
do in the game itself.

ORIGINAL SIM

Ahh, how far we've come, eh? Anyone with
a taste for nostalgia and a love of the
venerable C64 should remember what was
in many ways a precursor to The Sims - LCP
or Little Computer Person. Your cute little
character, Adam, was under your control
and relied upon you to keep him fed, clean,
intellectually satisfied and in good
company. To get your attention he'd wander
up to his study and type out a charming
little note to you detailing his complaints.

He clearly floats her boat

Kid chemistry

The real meat of the expansion pack is in the
new items and home features. Always
wanted to live in a dank gothic mansion? It's
yours! Same goes for a funky futuristic style
home, and there's plenty of useful items for
those that revel in tackiness too.

There's also a bunch of new chairs,
beds, desks, pictures, lamps, and so
on to choose from - enough to keep
the interior decorator in you
happy fora good long while.

The new items aren't all
just pretty to look at either -
Maxis has noted the mean
streak in players and catered to
their wants with a variety of
humorous and often disastrous
objects. Take that antique lamp
for instance. Hmm, a quick rub
and suddenly the quintessential
genie is summoned to grant
your wishes! But, like the saying
goes, be careful what you wish for;

I don't want to spoil it for you, but
really, you may want to save before
rubbing. In fact, while you're exploring
all the new objects you will want to save
often, as the side effects can be
devastating. Anyone with half a
brain should be able to tell that giving a
chemistry set to a child is a recipe for
disaster - beware the evil twin! Of course, if
all this is giving you the blues, just purchase

one of those nice sad clown pictures - but
uh-oh, if you're feeling sad the clown will
come to life and attempt to cheer you up. At
3am. While you are fast asleep. . .

Good vibrations

And that's just a sampling of what this
expansion pack offers - there are also
cool features like the ability to try
talking the Grim Reaper out of taking
your partner once s/he passes
away, a telescope to look at the
stars with (and to keep an eye out
for aliens), robots that can be
bought to help out with that
pesky housework (I'm sorry Dave, I
can't do that. . .), and even a vibrating
bed so that your sims can (finally)
consummate their passionate affair.

The only criticism I have of Livin'
Large is really a criticism of The Sims
itself: it's managing the minutiae of
everyday life that really becomes
annoying after a while. I was hoping that
the feature set of Livin' Large might
address this in some way (sims that go
to the toilet themselves, or pick up a
phone when it rings, and so on). Still,
even though this expansion pack is just
a heap of new objects, designs,
implements and career paths, there's
enough to keep any fan of The Sims happy
for the weeks and months to come.

Gareth Jones

ONLINE

www.thesims.com
Still a great place to
visit thanks to Maxis'
ongoing support for
the game

WS ~ ~ “ ■

v- :: .. afegBKBfe a

tr — m eaar

www.thesimsresource.com

A vast repository of
useful info and tidbits

www.somethingawful.co

m/articles/weekinsims/i

ndex.htm

A week in the life of
Stabs and Porshe
Felcher

FOR

■ Lots of new
things to play with

■ It'll rekindle
interest in The Sims

AGAINST

■ More innovations
would have been nice

■ Still too much
micromanagement

OVERALL

A good, solid add-
on to a great game

PCPP 93

REVIEW

MECH COLLECTION

Below is some late night Mech Collection advertising...

DETAILS

GENRE

Action/Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (1-8 via LAN,
modem)

DEVELOPER

FASA Interactive

PUBLISHER

Microprose

DISTRIBUTOR

Hasbro

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-200, 32Mb RAM,
240Mb HDD, 2Mb
Videocard

WANT

PII-300, 64Mb RAM,
390Mb HDD

B MechWarrior 3 is the giant robot
gaming experience for everyone!
LAUGHTER, TEARS, HIGH-POWERED
MACHINERY and DESTRUCTION!! GREAT
for MUM after a hard day!!!

Well also give you the EXPANSION PACK -
PIRATE'S MOON - full of more THUNDEROUS
ROBOTIC ANTICS! Educational for the kids!!

BUT WAIT! We're not done yet!! You also get
the classic strategy of MechCommander Gold!!!
Call in the next fifteen minutes and..."

I'll have guns with that

While we eagerly await Mech Warrior 4,
there's some bargains to be had in the mean
time. MicroProse delivers a collection of some
of the high points in the whole Mech
experience. For the uninitiated, as a
MechWarrior, you pilot various large, killing
machines in the distant future to mash some
other giants robots through various missions.

MechWarrior 3 and its expansion pack are
the real winners in this collection - this is an
attractive 3D action extravaganza that was
stunning us about this time lastyear(91%,

PCPP#39). A great level of control, excitement
and detail is evident - violence with extreme
prejudice is the order of the day.
MechCommander Gold, while a solid upgrade
of the original 3D isometric action/strategy, is
looking decidedly dated and is really just here
for strength in numbers.

A good buy if you were in a coma while
the rest of us played MechWarrior 3 or have a
machine that's looking a little dated. And you
get a truly dope t-shirt as well. Winner!

John Dewhurst

F/A- 18 E SUPER HORNET

Flight simming without a soul

DETAILS

GENRE

Modern Fighter Sim

MULTIPLAYER

1-24

(head-to-head only)

DEVELOPER

Digital Integration

PUBLISHER

Interplay

DISTRIBUTOR

Interplay

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-233, 64Mb RAM,
340Mb HDD, 4Mb
Videocard (D3D)

WANT

PII-300, 128Mb RAM,
16Mb Videocard (D3D)

aybe I've been spoilt by Jane's
recent effort in the F/A-18 stakes,
but Digital Integration's offering is a major
disappointment. Despite being a solid
flight sim, F/A-18E Super Hornet is overly
complex and simply fails to deliver many
of the features expected by today's
armchair pilots. The money spent on high
quality (if poorly acted) cutscenes would
clearly have been better directed towards
a decent training package, simplified
documentation, and at least a stab at
campaign and multiplayer options.

In addition to the 20
alleged training missions
(in which no training is
provided!), 40 combat
missions can be flown in the Barents Sea and
Indian Ocean warzones. The Russians are at it
again, and players are tasked with taking
them on in a variety of air-to-air and air-to-
ground missions, using the full range of
weaponry available to the Super Hornet. No
unified campaigns are available in the initial
release, although they should be seen in the
"Gold" version due to ship in the near future.

Faint praise

It's not all bad news. Super Hornet's cockpit
detail is remarkable, with almost everything
operable by mouse click, and the
representation of carrier deck operations is
as good as advertised. Similarly, the aircraft
modelling is a beautiful sight to see - despite
being let down by some very average
ground detail. Weapons are also well
simulated, and the mission planner is
comprehensive and straightforward.

With so many good features, it's
a shame that Digital Integration
didn't finish it properly

Major Des McNicholas

I 94 PCPP

THANDOR

The 3D RTS bandwagon trundles past once more...

HIPPIES OUT

Thandor features both resource types,
country and western. Or to be more
precise, Xenite and Tritium. Xenite
deposits are gold in colour and provide
the raw materials for building/unit
construction and research, while Tritium
is the fuel for your power plants - no
hippy solar panels here by gum. This set
up increases the difficulty of defending
your holdings and adds an extra wrinkle
to the strategy the player might use
against their opponents.

n a time yet to come, in a place not
so far away, an Alien race known
as the Galrath attempted to invade
Earth's colonies, as well as those of other
races, and were eventually defeated by
an alliance of those same worlds. After a
time the alliance became complacent,
corrupt. Trains started derailing, buildings
falling over and then came the Olympics.

Thandor is a no nonsense 3D realtime
strategy title. If you have played Eidos'
Warzone 2100 you may get the impression
that Thandor is its sequel as the two titles
are very similar in appearance and design. In
fact it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn
that some of the same developers worked
on both games. Warzone, however, was
much more fun.

Tim-berrr!

The game utilises a true 3D engine, but one
that maintains a thirdperson perspective, but
the camera can be manoeuvred extensively.
The terrain is moderately interactive and the
player has to deal with events like meteorite
showers every once in a while. You should
also be wary of the trees, they'll just stand
there doing nothing until you kill them -
then they'll fall over. Crafty buggers.

The 3D terrain allows Thandor to make
use of line of sight and elevation rules, adding
an extra tactical element to the game, and
making control of certain areas on each game
map an important aid to your cause. Research
to find new weapons and buildings, and to
improve the efficiency of your current ones,
is done within most building types or in the

dedicated research facilities. Unlike Warzone
2100, unit types are automatically put together
when new items become available and instantly
come up on your construction menus.

Unfortunately, Thandor is letdown by
movement Al which makes your troops behave
like an under 21's football team on the morning
after a Grand Final victory. Even small groups
of units become tangled up in themselves
when you give them group movement
orders and getting bigger vehicles through
narrows has to be done one at a time.

If it weren't for this one frustrating
problem, Thandor would be quite good.

Alas, it falls short of being a truly
memorable title and only just manages to
poke its head above the level of mediocrity.

George Soropos

DETAILS

GENRE

3D Realtime Strategy

MULTIPLAYER

Yes (1-5 via TCP/IP,
LAN)

DEVELOPER

Planet 4

PUBLISHER

JoWood

DISTRIBUTOR

Infogrames

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

TBC

NEED

PI 1-266, 32Mb RAM,
4Mb 3D Videocard

WANT

PII-500, 64Mb RAM,
16Mb 3D Videocard

ONLINE

www.thandor.com.de

Download new units
and maps - a la
Total Annihilation -
from JoWood's
Thandor homepage

£ .yr: H

'■ r —l

FOR

■ Straightforward
gameplay

■ Nice gameworld

■ Good for beginners

AGAINST

■ Clumsy pathfinding

■ Generally poor Al

OVERALL

A neat effort only
undermined by a
few flaws

69 ,

PCPP 95

READER REVIEW

EVERQUEST RUINS OF KUNARK

Scott Lyons is an Evercrack addict

DETAILS

GENRE

Massively Multiplayer
Virtual Reality

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

DEVELOPER

Verant Interactive

PUBLISHER

Sony

DISTRIBUTOR

Sony

AVAILABLE

Now

RATING

NEED

P-200, 64Mb RAM,
2xCD, 8MB 3D
Videocard (D3D),
28.8k Modem

WANT

PII-266, 128Mb RAM,
4xCD

HOW TO:

Please send your
review to

reader_review@pcp

owerplay.com.au

REMEMBER:

All of the reviews
should be 500
words in length and
contain Details,
Online and a Score

98 ,

Our favourite Everquest screenshot. For obvious reasons

Kneel, you insolent creature, and quit making wisecracks about my tight trousers

o be able to quest for ever in an
massive online multiplayer world -
that's the goal of Everquest. Don't doubt
there's a danger here, not in the game so
much, as to everyday life, social interaction
and work in general. The problem is that
time passes so quickly when you're
involved in another world. And this
world is so beautiful, big and interactive.

Party time

I start off solo. Meet another fighter and team
up my wizard with him for protection. We
start to dominate the ores' camp and during
the next hour or so of damage dealing and
carnage we start to chat. The odd joke, a little
information regarding a quest, compliments
on the gear we are carrying or rescuing
each other's bacon. Before you know it you
have a camaraderie happening with
someone who is likely on the other side of
the world and who you really don't know
from a bar of soap. You add them to your
friends list. You'll see them around again.
When you do you may team up with them
or just compare notes on your respective
progress. You may end up in a guild
together battling other guilds or partying
hard with other guild members in an inn.

It's the multiplayer and grouping options
that make Everquest really shine. Playing in a
large party has never been so well reflected.

Oh, it can be chaotic, but if everyone knows
their roles and plays by the team plan it can
be nothing short of exhilarating. Let the thief
hide and sneak in from behind for the
backstab. Realise that the warriors must
protect the spell casters and form a protective
barrier. Creatures will target the casters as
they deal huge damage and yet are ninety
pound weaklings! Clerics and enchanters
become the hub of any group with their
healing and buffing abilities. The leader is
responsible for inviting new party members
or divvying out the spoils of war. It's great fun.

However, my wizard has had some run-
ins with other characters. You quickly learn
the etiquette of this game by making stupid
mistakes. Don't, for example, run to another
character for help with eight ores chasing
you, baying for your blood - not without
warning them anyway. Being responsible for
the accidental death of someone else does
not get a friendship off to a good start! Don't
shout all the time as not everyone is
interested in what you have to say.

Power trip

If you remember a few simple things then
you start to notice something amazing
happening. The characters in this world are
almost universally "nice" to each other. They
will help you out when you're in a bind, lend
you money and food, rescue you from the

jaws of that crocodile or shark, or happily
show you around a new city introducing you
to its denizens.

This is all well and good, but what is so
addictive with this game? Why is it
nicknamed EverCrack and why am I a junkie?
It's certainly not a perfect game, as quite a
lot of what happens is unrealistic (ie. the
zones in the game have edges where it is
safe to sit and recuperate).

But I think I know the answer. It's the
quest for POWER. The sheer awe that is
generated by a high level character and the
power that exudes from them is enough to
fill everyone who meets them with ENVY.
You'll want this power and want it BAD. To be
able to waltz in and, with a flick of the wrist,
leave the battle field a smoking and charred
ruin and a group of lower level characters
grovelling in awe. With each additional level
you gain you come closer to this goal and
your skills become more rounded.

Eventually you will be able to walk the
earth secure knowing that you are the top
of the food chain and that precious little
can challenge you. And when you reach
those lofty heights - and it will take a LONG
time - what do you do? Well, start again of
course, this time with a troll warrior. Such
is the world of Everquest. It's waiting for
you, so come and join us.

Scott Lyons

I 96 PCPP

PLAYSTATION 2

Australia, and much, much more

AUSTRALIA’S NO.1 VIDEO GAMES MAG

SCORE LIST

The past year in gaming. This month: most memorable adventure games

GAME NAME SCORE 8 ISSUE

Deus Ex

98 % in PCPP #51

Drakan

84 % in PCPP #43

12 O'clock High

#46

Abomination

#44

Age of Empires 2

#42

Age of Wonders

#46

Airport Inc.

#48

Akuma: Demonspawn

#47

Alien Nations

#52

Allegiance

#50

Alpha Centauri: Alien X-fire

#45

Amerzone

#42

Army Men Air Tactics

#50

Army Men In Space

#48

Asheron's Call

#50

Atlantis II

#50

Baldur's Gate: Sword Coast

#41

Baldur's Gate II

#53

Battlecruiser 3000

#50

Battlezone 2

#48

Beetle Crazy Cup

#49

Braveheart

#42

C&C Tiberian Sun

#41

Civ: Test of Time

#41

DEVELOPER: Surreal
PUBLISHER: Psygnosis
DISTRIBUTOR: GT Interactive

WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"It's hardly surprising to discover that
combat is decidedly cool. A devastating
array of fighting moves are easily
executed and there's a healthy range
of weapons with which Rynn can arm
herself. With the addition of Arokh,
Drakan is blessed with a degree of
variety that puts its more generic
companions to shame."

DEVELOPER: Ion Storm
PUBLISHER: Eidos
DISTRIBUTOR: Ozisoft
WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"From the interior of an enormous 747
to the abandoned New York subway,
the game's locations are realised in
uniformly exceptional detail.
Complementing this is the bewildering
and diverse array of objects with which
Denton can interact. This is a world just
buzzing with things to touch and fiddle
around with."

Clans 48 #42

Codename: Eagle

#46

Cricket 2000

#51

Croc 2

#48

Crusaders of Might & Maqic

#50

Cutthroats

#43

Daikatana

#52

Dark Reign 2

#51

Darkstone

#42

Delta Force 2

#46

Descent 3: Mercenaries

#47

Deus Ex

#51

Diablo II

#53

Dick Johnson V8 Challenge

#46

Dino Crisis

#53

Disciples

#43

Dogs of War

#51

Dracula

#47

Drakan

#43

Driver

#43

Dungeon Keeper 2

#41

Earth 2150

#53

Enemy Engaged

#50

Evolva

#50

F/A 18 Hornet

#47

FA Prem. League Stars

#42

FIFA 2000

#45

Fighting Steel

#41

Final Fantasy VIII

#47

Flight Unlimited III

#43

Gabriel Knight III

DEVELOPER: Sierra
PUBLISHER: Sierra
DISTRIBUTOR: Dataflow
WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"This is the stuff of Knights Templar,
Cathars and the demon Asmodeus. It's
complex, lurid with history and all
steeped in rich accuracy. GK3 does not
boost gaming into bold and strange
new directions, but it provides a
thought-provoking and memorable
story that resonates long after you
have witnessed the final scene."

87 % in PCPP #44

Fly!

#42

Flying Heroes

#51

#42

Force Commander

#49

Fox Sports NBA 2000

#44

Freespace 2

#44

Gabriel Knight III

#44

Gorky 17

#47

Grand Prix World

#49

Grand Prix 3

#53

Grand Theft Auto 2

#44

Ground Control

#52

Guardians of Darkness

#41

Gulf War: Desert Hammer

#45

Gunship!

J50

Half-Life: Opposing Force

#45

H0MM III: Armageddon's Blade

#45

Hidden and Dangerous

#41

H & D: Fight for Freedom

#46

Homeworld

#41

Icewind Dale

#52

1-War: Defiance

#44

Imperium Galactica 2

#46

Indiana Jones & Infernal Machine

#45

Interstate '82

#47

Invictus

#48

Indiana & Infernal Machine

DEVELOPER: Lucasarts
PUBLISHER: Lucasarts
DISTRIBUTOR: Metro
WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"Indy climbs and clambers and lashes
the whip and falls and crawls in a very
realistic motion. The game is far better
in this area than the other adventure
games of its sort. Unfortunately, while
this game is surely pretty, it really just
does not have the guts of a classic"

69 % in PCPP #45

Omikron: Nomad Soul

93 % in PCPP #44

Soul Reaver

84 % in PCPP #43

Jagged Alliance 2

#42

Jane's USAF

#44

KA-52 Alligator

#48

King of Dragon Pass

#52

Kingpin

#41

Klingon Academy

#53

Lemmings Revolution

#51

Links 2000

#44

M25 Racer

#45

Madden NFL 2000

#44

Majesty

#49

Man of War II

#40

Martian Gothic

#50

Maximum Flight

#52

MDK 2

#52

Messiah

#48

Metal Fatigue

#53

Mig Alley

#42

Might & Magic VIII

#49

Millennium Racer

#50

Motocross Madness 2

#51

MS Flight Sim 2000

#44

Nascar Revolution

#48

Nascar Road Racing

#41

Nations: Fighter Command

#44

NBA Inside Drive 2000

#46

NBA Live 2000

#45

Need for Speed: High Stakes

#41

Need For Speed: Porsche 2000

#52

Nerf Arena

#46

NHL Championship 2000

#46

Nocturne

#46

Nox

#48

Omikron: Nomad Soul

#44

Operation Art of War 2

#42

Pandora’s Box

#47

Panzer Elite

#46

Planescape: Torment

#46

Pharaoh

#45

Phoenix

#46

Prince of Persia 3D

#43

Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey

#47

Puma Street Soccer

#46

GOLD AWARD

90-94

PLATINUM AWARD

95-100

Tomb Raider 4

DEVELOPER: Core Design
PUBLISHER: Eidos
DISTRIBUTOR: Ozisoft
WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"The game justly rewards players who
take the time to devise alternate
solutions to problems, instead of
rushing into a situation with guns
blazing. Puzzles, too, require a lot more
thought to complete, making the game
more challenging on the whole."

89 % in PCPP #43

Star Trek: Starfleet Command 87 #43

SU-27 Flanker 2.0 83 #44

Swat 3 90 #46

Sydney 2000
System Shock 2
Theocracy
The Wheel of Time
Thief Gold

Thief II: The Metal Age
Theme Park World
Tiger Woods 2000
Tomb Raider: Last Revelation
Traitor's Gate
UEFA Manager

95 #49

80 #45

84 #49

89 #43

78 #44

79 #51

Ultima IX: Ascension 70 #45

Quake III: Arena

#45

Unreal: Return to Na Pali 72 #41

Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear

#44

Unreal Tournament 94 #45

Rally Championship 2000

#45

Urban Chaos 85 #46

Rayman 2

#45

Vampire: The Masquerade 82 #52

Re-Volt

#41

Wartorn 78 #53

Revenant

#45

Wild Wild West 65 #51

Rising Sun

#48

World Manager 34 #48

Rogue Spear

#44

Rollcage II

#50

R'coaster Tyc: Added Attractions 81

#45

Septerra Core

#47

Seven Kingdoms 2

#44

Ultima IV- Acrpn^inn

Shadow Company

#44

uiuma ia. njtciidiuii

Shadow Watch

#49

DEVELOPER: Origin

Shadow Man

#41

PUBLISHER: EA

Shogun: Total War

#50

DISTRIBUTOR: EA

The Sims

#47

WHAT WE SAID THEN:

Skydive!

#42

"There aren't enough adjectives in a

Slave Zero

#47

thesaurus to adequately describe the

Sold.erof Fortune

#49

immersive qualities and sumptuous

Soul Reaver: Legacy Of Kain

#43

details of Ascension's environments.

Soulbringer

#51

Sadly, the bugs that plague Ascension

South Park Rally

#47

from the outset, and the game's

Spec Ops 2

#46

appalling performance on even the

Speed Demons

#47

most powerful of PC's, makes it

Starlancer

#49

impossible to recommend."

Star Trek: Armada

#49

70 % in PCPP #45

Star Trek: Hidden Evil

#46

SCORE LIST QUIZ!

WIN YOUR CHOICE OF THE BEST OF ADVENTURE GAMES!

All you have to do is tell us which game this image
comes from. (Clue: it's a small section of a screenshot
published in PCPP.) Send to the usual competitions
address, marking your envelope to "Best of Adventure",
and writing your answer on the back. Don't forget to tell
us which game of the eight featured on these pages you
would like to win. Winners notified in PCPP#56.

DEVELOPER: Crystal Dynamics
PUBLISHER: Eidos
DISTRIBUTOR: Ozisoft
WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"Raziel needs to feed on others in
order to survive, even if it means
taking the lives of innocent people. It's
an unhappy means to a hopefully
happy end, and Crystal Dynamics
have done an admirable job of
conveying and fleshing out this
inherent moral dilemma."

DEVELOPER: Quantic Dream
PUBLISHER: Eidos
DISTRIBUTOR: Ozisoft
WHAT WE SAID THEN:

"If Kay'l dies at any point, your soul will
be transferred into the body of the first
person who touches his corpse. Other
titles have tried to meld together a
diverse array of genres, but Quantic
Dream has trumped everyone else with
The Nomad Soul. "

PCPP 99 1

RETROVERSION

IN HINDSIGHT...

Dark Reign 2

WE SPOKE TO PANDEMIC STUDIOS' GREG
BORRUD AND ANDREW PAYNE ABOUT THEIR
FINELY-HONED, EVER-CHANGING FUTURISTIC RTS

andemic's main men were
only too happy to apprise
us of the trials and
tribulations associated with
developing a 3D strategy game.
They also talked at length about their
greatest achievements, and gave us
an inside edge on the directions they
plan to take in the near future.

PCPP: How much did Dark Reign
2 change during development? Or
how close to its original design
document did it remain?

Greg Borrud: (laughs) I think we
kept the names of a few units the
same, but the original design
document differed greatly from the
finished product. We had to make
several major decisions along the way
to change fundamental design aspects
in order to make Dark Reign 2 more
accessible to RTS game players and
remain within that core genre.
Andrew Payne: Aside from the unit
names, the only other aspect that
remained true to the original concept
was the graphics. There was an especially
insightful phrase in the document that
said, "The graphics will be really cool"
(grins). In some ways the direction we
took in creating DR2 was influenced by
changes in technology. When we first
started Dark Reign 2, we thought that
we couldn't make a classic RTS game in
full 3D, so we looked at making a more
tactically-oriented game with an
emphasis on only a few units. But that
wasn't the kind of game we really
wanted to make - we wanted to make
Dark Reign 2. It took us quite a while to
develop the technology that would

GB: It took longer than we initially
anticipated. It took about two-and-a-
half years to develop the game, and
generally went very smoothly. The
transition from 2D to 3D definitely
took a lot longer than we had
predicted. Most of these 2D to 3D
problems came from a design
standpoint - how far do you take the
concept, how much do you have to
do to really take advantage of 3D, and
at what point does your game stop
being an RTS and become some other
iteration? Having developed
Battlezone and Battlezone 2, we also
ran the risk of inadvertently making

Dark Reign 2 more like those titles,
and less like a sequel to the original
Dark Reign. We tried several different
things, and eventually nailed down
exactly what we wanted to do with
the game about a year ago.

PCPP: In terms of plot and unit
design, how much research was
conducted during development of
the game?

GB: Our designers are all very well-
read, so they spent a lot of time
gleaning information from various
sources. Much of the technology
portrayed in Dark Reign 2 is a

enable us to make a full 3D RTS game.
Part of that came from Intel's Multi
Resolution Mesh technology, which we
worked with them to develop. The
MRM technology does a huge amount
for our game - without it we couldn't
have anywhere near the level of detail
that our units have. Being able to zoom
right in and see individual fingers
flexing on a unit wouldn't be possible
without MRM.

PCPP: Did Dark Reign 2's
development schedule run more or
less smoothly than you anticipated
at the start of the project?

100 PCPP

combination of typical science fiction
material, technology that's being
researched by scientists and may
some day become a reality, and some
elements of pure fantasy.

AP: But, no matter how implausible
the technology seemed, our Lead
Designer always had a detailed
explanation for how it functioned!

PCPP: Which aspects of the game
are you most proud of?

AP: I'm really proud of all of it! I'm
especially proud of what the designers
managed to achieve.

GB: I'm so proud of Dark Reign 2's
multiplayer setup. The way we have
left it so open to modification is
fantastic. But, by the same token, I
am proud of the single player
campaign. It's so immersive, and the
balance between the two factions is
almost flawless.

AP: Personally, I love going online
and taking on the fans. Having played
the game for months on end, I thought
I would be virtually unbeatable, but I
was recently trounced by a player who
used a strategy I had never even
considered! There is a way to counter
that strategy, so I will be able to deal
with it if I come up against it again, but
that incident really made me aware of
the overwhelming number of
strategies players can use to achieve
their goals. That's something else I am
extremely proud of.

PCPP: What can we expect to see
down the track in terms of patches,
expansions or sequels?

GB: Whether or not we create an
expansion pack or a sequel is really up
to Activision, but we do plan on
providing a lot of after-market support.
Supporting the Dark Reign 2
community is a huge priority for us,
and that's something we anticipate
will extend the life of our game for

months to come. So we're releasing
new multiplayer maps on a weekly
basis, and adding neat new features
that grant the player increased control
over the camera, and allow them to
play mp3s from within the game. We'll
also be creating an extensive series of
mods that I'm sure our hardcore fans
will appreciate.

PCPP: What's next for Pandemic?

GB: What we have here is a game that
we're all really proud of. But, almost
more importantly, we have a
phenomenal RTS game engine that I
would argue is the best one out there.

It has been so efficiently engineered
by Andrew and the other three
programmers, that we can now create
all different types of RTS games simply
by altering certain components within
the 3D environment. In this regard,
creating the engine from scratch has
paid dividends. Unfortunately we can't
really discuss anything specific with
regards to future projects, but we'll be
moving into development of
PlayStation2 and X-Box titles, and
we're looking to open up a
development studio in Brisbane.

PCPP: Thanks very much for your
time, guys. We're looking forward
to Pandemic's next release and
wish you the best of luck in setting
up your Australian division.

GB & AP: You're welcome, and
thank you for your support.

SECOND TAKE...

Here is an excerpt from a conversation I had with my brother the day I
brought home a copy of Dark Reign 2:

ME: Look! Dark Reign 2!

BROTHER: Uh-huh. What is it?

ME: It's um... an RTS. But! Look! 3D! Ooohh!

BROTHER: Another RTS?

ME: But it looks so good!

BROTHER: But it's still an RTS... (crestfallen silence)

ME: I'm going to hit you with a pipe.

Now, if you're like my brother, you're probably asking yourself:

"Where did all the profanity go?" But, if you're a gamer with some DR2
experience, you should be asking: "Does that potentially violent dialogue
tell us something about Dark Reign 2? Something we perhaps missed?"

Well, the answer to that question is YES. While bedazzled by the
spectacular visuals in Pandemic's RTS, I - and many others - missed
one simple fact: it's still an RTS.

This, of course, isn't to say that DR2 is a bad game - it's a great
game. But it isn't the revolutionary product that Activision and many
of the gaming press have touted it to be. It is, however, an exceedingly
good RTS with some great units and a good story.

And boy, it sure looks purty.

Daniel Staines

PCPP 101

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PCPP 103

TECH

THE SILICON STATE OF THE ART

As any PC owner
knows, a well-oiled
speedy PC is
imperative to enjoy
the latest games. In
light of this, we've
done a major
overhaul of the tech
section - starting this
month, we've
increased it's size and
done a much-needed
design overhaul. Tech
has been in a state of
flux over the past few
months, and finally
we've arrived at a
design we're rather
happy with. Cheers,
Shon and Ashley.

Onto the obligatory
manifesto. Each
month we'll serve up
an expanded
assortment of PC
news, hardware
reviews and tech
features, while
remembering what
it's all about: playing
games at ludicrously
high framerates.

We're confident that
the experienced crew
here - Seb is a
systems analyst, ninja
hacker and computer
science honours
student - can provide
you with all the info
you need to have a
truly wicked PC
experience without
all the boring stuff.
Anyway, less talk,
more content...!
hughns@next.com.au

Intel Pentium 4 Previewed

THE FOURTH GENERATION PENTIUM PROCESSOR MAKES AN APPEARANCE

At the IDF Show last month,

Intel finally unveiled the much
anticipated Pentium 4 processor. The
Pentium 4 will be fully compatible with
existing 32-bit applications and operating
systems, and Intel release chips later this
year with initial speeds in the 1.4GHz range.

In the past year, AMD has been
gaining increasing market share. One of
the principle reasons for such success
has been the radical design of the Athlon
processor: unlike the competition, the
latest AMD K7-based processors use a
relatively new design. On the other hand,
Intel’s flagship model, the Pentium III,
remains limited by the 5-year old
architecture. Even with the Coppermine’s
new 0.18 micron manufacturing process,
Intel is having a hard time pushing out a
sufficient supply of lGHz+ chips. Unlike
the Athlon, the P6 architecture can’t scale
to higher speeds with ease. The Pentium
III is expected to reach a maximum of 1.2-
1.3 GHz, but that isn’t expected until
Intel moves to a 0.13 micron fabrication
line. With the P6 architecture entering
its twilight years, it’s about time that a
new core was released.

Design Improvements
Unsurprisingly, Intel has named its latest
desktop CPU the Pentium 4. Originally
known as Willamette, the processor
features an awesomely complex design.
The Pentium 4 squeezes 42 million
transistors onto 1 chip, up from 28 million

on the Pentium III. With cavalier disregard
for cliche, Intel has dubbed this new
internal design the NetBurst Architecture
(Don’t you just love marketing?). With
new performance enhancing features,
the Intel ‘NetBurst’ micro-architecture
will form the foundation for the next
several years of x86 processors.

The most important feature of the
NetBurst micro-architecture is Hyper
Pipelined Technology. Essentially, this
refers to a 20-stage pipeline that the
Pentium 4 will use. In comparison, this
is twice as deep as the 10 stage
pipelining used in the P6 core. A longer
pipeline has many advantages.
Primarily, the 20-stage pipeline will
allow the Pentium 4 to hit higher
clockspeeds without a core shrink - the
first batch of Pentium 4 processors will
use a 0.18 micron process, but the line is

expected to move to 0.13 at the beginning
of next year. Intel’s new chip will initially
run at 1.4GHz, or 1.4billion
cycles per second. With the
0.13 micron die shrink, the
Pentium 4 should move well
beyond the 2GHz mark. For
both Intel and AMD, raw
clock speed is very important - ignoring
more important factors, much of the
ignorant public base computer purchasing
decisions purely upon the MHz rating.

The Pentium 4 adds SSE2
(Streaming SIMD Extensions 2) to the
core, consisting of seventy-six new
SIMD instructions and enhancements to
sixty-eight integer SIMD instructions.
SSE2 extends MMX and SSE technology,
and is extremely useful for Multimedia
and AI intensive operations. Games and
voice recognition will thrive under SSE2.
We can’t wait to see SSE2 supported
under the new Nvidia drivers...

1850 Chipset

Of note, the Pentium 4 is not backwards
compatible with the BX, 820e or 815e
chipsets. This means that upgraders will
need to fork out for a new motherboard.
For the moment, the Intel i850
(Tehama) chipset is the only solution for
Pentium IV owners. Using a new PGA
Socket W with 423 pins, the i850
includes some nifty new features: the
system bus operates at a staggering
400MHz, (quad-pumped 100MHz),

104 PCPP

Chip Recall

INTEL BACKTRACKS ON FASTEST Pill

issues - it has now recalled the
part, which won’t be re-
released for some time.

George Alfs, a PR
representative at Intel
has confirmed that they
have ‘found
marginalises’ in the
processor. This is a
significant blow to Intel’s
floundering credibility - for the

time being, the AMD 1.1 GHz (available in quantity) will
remain the fastest x8 6 processor available. It also
highlights a more serious issue, with critics concerned
that the chip maker is sacrificing quality in order to rush
processors to market.

So Sue Me

AND IN THE BLUE CORNER...

The past month has witnessed a slew of lawsuits within the ultra-

competitive computer industry. On the 28th of August, Nvidia
commenced legal action against 3dfx, claiming its competitor has infringed
upon many of its patents. The suit claims that 3dfx products (ever since the
Voodoo3) violate five patents, all of which involve the I/O subsystem.

In similar news, Intel has slapped a patent infringement suit on rival chipset
specialist VIA. The suit alleges that VIA has incorporated patented Intel
technology into the original KX133 Athlon chipset.

Micron, a large Taiwanese memory manufacturer is suing RAMBUS Inc
for alleged antitrust violations and bogus patent claims. In addition, Micron’s
move has emboldened Hyundai, another DRAM manufacturer, to sue
RAMBUS. Both companies
consider this a pre-emptive
legal strike against
RAMBUS Inc, who are
expected to file patent
infringement claims against
both companies.

allowing data transfer at speeds of up to
3.2 Gb per second. In comparison,
current Pentium III systems use a
133MHz system bus.

Sadly, a Front Side Bus of 400MHz
forces the i850 to utilise RAMBUS PC800
memory. Although extremely expensive,
RAMBUS in a dual-channel configuration
(like the i840) can be very speedy. The
increased bandwidth of RAMBUS will
be a better solution for the Pentium 4
than it ever was for the Pentium III 1820
combo - not only is the Pentium 4 bus in
synch with the RAMBUS channel, but a
dual-channel interface will significantly
increase available bandwidth. The 1850
also includes an integrated ATA/100
controller for high speed had drive.
Interestingly enough, the i850 is the
first motherboard chipset we’ve seen
that requires a large heatsink to operate.

Potential Performance
Although we’re yet to benchtest the
Pentium 4, it has impressive ‘on-paper’
specifications. The decision to use
RAMBUS memory exclusively instead
of cheaper DDR-SDRAM is distressing -
as it stands, the Pentium 4 will only be
a viable solution for the very wealthy
and those demanding workstation level
performance. We hope that Intel or VIA
will release a consumer level chipset
(Brookdale, anyone?) in the not so
distant future. In any case, we don’t
really see the Pentium 4 taking over the
mainstream from the Pentium III until
the release of the 0.13 Northwood core
and a reduction in the cost of RDRAM.
AMD’s new Mustang core at 1.5GHz
with DDR SDRAM should compete very
well clock for clock with the P4, and at
a significantly lower price.

THE FAMILY TREE

The P4 chip is so
secret, only this
logo is available

PCPP 105 I

TECH

Duron vs. Celeron: CPU Deathmatch

ENTRY LEVEL CPUS

COMPARED

With the release of the Duron,
AMD has issued a stern
challenge to Intel and its
Celeron lineup. But which is
the best chip for gamers?
Read on...

PCPP 107

between your processor and your main
memory subsystem. Instead of wasting time
going directly to the memory for a data request,
your CPU can request data directly from either
the Level 1 or Level 2 cache. By keeping the
comparatively tardy system memory out of the
equation, many frequently repeated tasks
(many of which are found in business
applications, such as Office applications, and
even your OS alone) are sped up considerably.

The AMD headquarters -
a marvel of modern
landscaping techniques

When Intel released the Celeron line
of low-cost CPUs in 1998, the market
sector literally exploded as consumers
flocked to the cheaper, yet slightly less
powerful chips. In fact, it was the
introduction of the Celeron which prompted
many PC manufacturers to release sub-
US$1,000 PCs. While the slim profit margin
from value processors can’t match the
plump profits that high-end CPUs rack up
for manufacturers, they make up for this
discrepancy through the sheer weight of
sales. Even AMD, who has aimed the mega-
successful Athlon at the high-end
workstation and performance market, has
now released a low-end value oriented
processor line to compete with the Celeron.

The present finds us with two low price
CPUs at nearly identical price points and
core MHz speeds, battling it out for the
same key market space. What, then, is
our official recommendation for
budget PC builders?

Celeron Introduced

Using the updated
Coppermine 128 core, the new
Celeron offers an identical internal
architecture to the Pentium III,
including the adoption of the

Pill’s SSE SIMD instructions and a 256-bit
Advanced Transfer Cache. However, there are
two important differences between the two
processors: the Celeron is crippled by a lower
front side bus (FSB) speed, and a smaller
internal L2 cache.

Instead of the 133MHz system bus speeds
that the Pentium III uses, Celeron CPUs are
limited to the restrictive 66MHz bus speed. It’s
worth noting that the Celeron lineup has been
using the 66MHz bus speed since its inception
in 1998 - while a 66MHz FSB may have been
sufficient when used in conjunction with an
ancient 266MHz processor, it does a disservice
to a modern 700+MHz CPU. Certainly,
with modern games and
applications placing

increasing strains on
system
bandwidth, a
66MHz-bus speed
just doesn’t do the
job anymore.

Also, the Celeron
only features half the
L2 cache amount (128KB)
that the Pentium III uses. L2
cache is an important part of chip
design - cache acts as a
middle man

TECH

After taking both price
and performance into
consideration, AMD's
Duron is a winner

In a bid to reduce costs, the Celeron is now
sold exclusively in a socketed form factor. As
L2 cache has been included on die, there is no
reason for a costly and bulky cartridge. Both
the Celeron and Pentium III line-up should be
used with Socket 370 boards.

The new Celeron will appeal to users of old
Pentium II systems looking for an easy upgrade;
if you’re using a Slot 1 Pentium II 233 - 450, the
Celeron at 700MHz makes a worthwhile upgrade
for a minimal cost. You will also need to
purchase an FC-PGA Slotket adaptor (about
$25) in order to run a socketed processor in a
Slot-1 board. Also, make sure you download the
latest BIOS for your motherboard prior to
installing a new CPU. If you can determine the
make of your motherboard, the BIOS can be
found at the manufacturer’s web site.

Duron Introduced
The AMD Duron is to the Athlon what the
Celeron is to the Pentium III. As with Intel,
AMD is returning to a socket-based processor,
Socket A aka Socket 462. Sadly this signals the
demise of Socket 7 boards. Even
Cyrix/Via are now using
Socket-370 solutions.

Architecturally, the
Duron is very reminiscent
of the Athlon. With the
200MHz EV6 bus and the
Einstein-level floating point
unit used in the Athlon, the
Duron is perfect for
demanding 3D applications. The Duron also
uses the same core as the Athlon, but in place
of 256K of full-speed on-die L2 cache, there is
only 64K L2 cache. However, like the Athlon,
the Duron features a sizeable 128K LI cache,
which makes the total L1/L2 cache available to
the Duron 192K. This is significantly more than
the Celeron’s 128K (the Celeron has to
duplicate its 32K LI cache in L2), and thus not
the handicap that it may initially seem.

The 200MHz DDR (100MHz Double
Pumped) EV6 FSB speed of the Duron is
particularly impressive when compared to the
paltry 66MHz system bus used by the Celeron.
Nonetheless, until a 200MHz DDRAM chipset
is available for AMD processors, we won’t see
the true benefits of the EV6 DDR bus in either
the Athlon or the Duron.

For us, the principal problem with the
Duron is motherboard availability and stability
- whilst the Via KT133 boards have some
impressive specs, they are constrained by bad
drivers (particularly AGP) and nagging
incompatibilities when used in
conjunction with some
hardware. Boards by Asus
(A7V), MSI (K7T) and Aopen
(AK33) are highly recommended.

The Conclusion

Based on the default bus speeds,
the Duron offers a clear advantage
in performance over the 66MHz Celeron II.
Even though overclocking the Celeron to
100MHz FSB produces a large performance
reward, the Duron still crushes the Celeron
setup. The conclusion is quite clear - right now
the Duron is the price/performance winner by
a significant margin. Until Intel revises the
ailing Celeron lineup, AMD is going to
continue to make inroads into the low-end
market. Benefiting from superior bus speed,
greater usable cache size, and a far more
advanced architecture, the Duron wipes the
floor with the Celeron. The Duron excels in
any application that’s thrown at it, being
equally adept at playing games or rendering a
CAD scene. There is no question: unless you’re
upgrading from an old Pentium II system, the
AMD Duron is the best low-end solution for
the discerning buyer.

I 108 PCPP

Digital 'Audio - “ -A

/* Format , Anywhere

Hear w ha* you* W

Get plugged into unstoppable, skip-free digital sounds with NOMAD II! It s personal digital music so
portable, you can take it anywhere! What’s more, the versatile NOMAD II plays not only your favorite
MP3 tunes, but also other audio formats! You can even capture voice recordings and listen to FM radio!
Set yourself ready for the revolutionary music of the future - with Creative NOMAD II!

MP3 + Other Formats Wired Remote Control Stereo Backphone Voice recording capability
FM Tuner

CREATIVE

CREATIVE LABS PTY LTD

igital

rsonai

tertainment

Starts Here.

If you are a current customer or Creative product owner, please note our NEW technical support number : (02) 9666 6500
and our NEW main office number : (02) 9666 6100.

For the latest updates on NOMAD products, check out www.nomadworld.com!
Visit your nearest retailer for the latest NOMAD II product range!

Creative Labs Pty Ltd. Unit 10/1801 Botany Rd Banksmeadow, NSW 2019
Tel: (02) 9666 6100 Fax: (02) 9666 6900 Website: www.australia.creative.com

TECH

Hotware Reviews

CREATIVE

3D BLASTER 2 ULTRA 64MB

Distributor Creative

Aimed at the most technologically
demanding gameplayer, the Annihilator
2 Ultra is based around the Nvidia GeForce 2
GTS Ultra chipset, the world’s fastest Graphics
Processing Unit (GPU). Architecturally, the
GeForce 2 GTS Ultra is identical to that of the
GeForce 2 GTS. It features the same T&L
engine, four rendering pipelines and the
ability to process two textures per pipeline per
clock. The only difference that exists is that
the Ultra variant uses a 0.18 micron process,
allowing it to ramp up to a higher speed.
Whereas the standard GTS runs at a default
core speed of 200MHz, the Ultra ships at 250
MHz. This offers a peak fillrate of over a
gigapixel (or two gigatexels), an improvement
of 25% over its predecessor.

More importantly, however, the Ultra also
comes with high-speed memory. One of the
largest bottlenecks in 3D card design is the
memory subsystem - Nvidia has tried to
alleviate this bandwidth bottleneck by using
faster memory and cranking the memory clock
from 333MHz DDR to 460MHz DDR. This is a
sizeable increase (around 39%), yielding an

impressive 7.36Gb/s of peak
memory
bandwidth.

Memory
bandwidth is
particularly
relevant at higher
resolutions,
especially when using
32-bit textures.

Not surprisingly, the
Creative 3D Blaster 2
Ultra is staggeringly fast.

In fact, it is the first card
we’ve used to provide a
consistent 60 frames a
second in Quake 3 at
1600x1200 with all the
graphical frippery turned on.

However, while the Creative
board is certainly the fastest
thing available, only the most
hardcore will be able to justify the high
expense. Those framerates will certainly be
worth it, though.

Can you spot the difference
between the Ultra and the
regular model?

ASUS

V7100 GEFORCE 2 MX

Price $349

With the GeForce 2 GTS and the Quadro
dominating the high-end enthusiast
market, it wasn’t surprising to see Nvidia make
a play for the low-end market. The Asus V7100
is aimed at the sensible majority of the market,
who cannot justify spending $600 on a
biannual videocard upgrade.

As the name implies, the
GeForce 2 MX is based upon a
modified version of the GeForce
2 GTS core. The main
difference is that the MX
features two rendering
pipelines, whereas the GTS
features a total of four. The MX,
however, is positioned at the
cost-conscious market, so
instead of selling the chip at
200MHz like the GTS, Nvidia
chose to clock the GeForce2 MX
at a peppy 175MHz. At this
lowered speed, with only two
rendering pipelines, the MX
has a fill-rate comparable to the
original GeForce 256 SDR.

As a stock standard card, the GeForce 2 MX
performs roughly on par with a standard
GeForce256 SDR. However, by overclocking the
memory clock with Entech’s Powerstrip, the MX
can reach speeds equivalent to the GeForce DDR.

Remember that the MX chipset is mainly
constrained by memory speeds - small
adjustments to the memory speeds can yield
significant performance rewards. If you plan to
overclock the MX to a large extent, it would be
prudent to add a small heatsink and fan
above the core chipset.

Also like the GTS, the MX is
based around a .18 micron fabrication
process. Thus, it should be able to
hit a virtually identical clock speed
with the same amount of cooling.

Hardware enthusiasts have
always associated the words Tow
cost’ with another word - ‘crap’.

Like the AMD Duron, the GeForce 2
MX puts an end to this

rubbish. If you want a
card that kicks
like a mule, but
don’t really plan
on pawning off
your kidneys/
grandmother/soul, the
V7100 is the goods.

110 PCPP

Hotware Reviews

SEAGATE

CHEETAH X15

Price $1295

Price $339

With a name inherited from the world’s
fastest aeroplane, you know that the X 15
is going to be fast.

Up until now, hard disks have been
available at three spindle speeds: 5,400, 7,200
and 1000RPM. Most consumer drives are sold
at 7,200 RPM, while 10,000 RPM continues to
dominate the high-end SCSI160
server/workstation market. Seagate, whose
range of Cheetah drives work as the backbone
of most e-commerce sites, have upped the bar
once again with the release of the 15,000 RPM
Cheetah X15. With a seek time of less than
3.9Ms, and operating at such high spindle
speeds, the X15 is the fastest commercial drive
available. At this speed, the X15 thrashes all
10,000RPM SCSI units, including the Atlas 10k,
by a sizeable margin. The drive is also
equipped with 4Mb of Buffer memory, rather
than the meagre 2Mb featured on most high-
end drives. A 16Mb variant is available for
those doing a lot of video editing, database
operations or something similarly memory
intensive. Expect the 16Mb version to have a
large price premium.

Designed principally for demanding server
applications, the X15 is equally capable in
games and general Windows usage. Users can
now load up Quake 3 levels in mere seconds,
and start Windows up in record time. If you use
your computer for other
things than games
(heaven forbid!), the
X15 is perfect for A/V
editing,
manipulating
huge

Photoshop
images or
large-

scale e-commerce applications. 18Gb of room
isn’t too giant, but should satisfy most users.
Besides, most power users will want to place
their OS, applications and swap files on
separate drives for optimal performance. In
sum, the X15 is insanely fast (especially when
configured as a RAID device), but the price
limits this drive to the extremely wealthy and
demanding professionals.

CREATIVE

WEBCAM GO! PLUS

Cam,
has full
Windows 2000
support. Creative
has included its own
photo management software,
as well as Arcsoft’s Polaroid
Photomax, a fairly
stripped down
suite of image
manipulation
tools. Like the
original WebCam
, the Web Cam Go
lens that tilts back

The Creative WebCam Go! Plus is the
first portable WebCam. On one hand, it’s
perfect for standard Web Cam applications such
as simple videoconferencing over NetMeeting,
video email and creating effective websites. But
the WebCam Go can also be taken on the road,
and used as a battery operated digital camera
with included voice annotation recorder.

The WebCam Go comes bundled with a six-
foot long USB cable, two AAA batteries and a
soft carry case. The camera works under
Windows ME and, unlike the Logitech Quick

from the main casing. This makes it easy to
mount onto the top of a monitor. You can snap
the lens back in place to reconfigure the Web
Cam Go as a shirt-pocket sized portable camera.

As we’ve come to expect from multi-purpose
devices (my all-in-one phone/fax/copier is a
classic example), you often sacrifice quality in
the bid to integrate different functions into one
product. In tests, the Web Cam Go offered
admirable image quality, certainly on par with
most other cheap Web Cams. However, as a
digital camera, the WebCam Go is seriously
lacking. Sadly, the still images lack the
vibrancy, sharpness and colour range of a
dedicated device. Additionally, the camera
lacks a flash, and isn’t suitable for low-light
conditions. 8Mb of non-upgradeable memory is
included, allowing you to store up to 200
images at 640x480 resolution, and more than
400 images at 320x240 resolution.

The Web Cam Go! Plus is a rudimentary
solution, best suited to the novice user. But, if
you’re on a limited budget, and can’t decide
between a dedicated web cam or digital camera,
the WebCam Go may be worth considering.

PCPP 111

TECH

Hot ware Reviews

MICROSOFT

SIDEWINDER PRECISION 2 JOYSTICK

Price $89

Distributor Microsoft

Distributor Acco

■HHI

After a less than impressive start,
Microsoft has finally secured itself a
position as one of the world’s premier
peripheral manufacturers.

Without the usual fanfare associated with a
Microsoft product launch, the engineers at the
Big-M have grabbed their drafting boards and
screwdrivers, and performed a complete
overhaul of the already impressive Sidewinder
Precision 2 joystick with USB interface. The
new design has a polished, professional feel -
the stick is ergonomically designed, and
features just the right amount of resistance to
movement. All the button presses and switches
feel solid and give good tactile feedback.

One of the most important additions was the
analogue throttle stick. In a flight sim, this can
be used to incrementally modify the thrust,
throttle or altitude. The rudder control is
another boon for flight simmers. By twisting
the joystick in lateral movements, you can
control the rudder of a plane or boat. The whole
rig sits on a hefty, metal base with a compact
footprint. The 3-year Microsoft warranty
ensures its durability.

Installing the Precision 2 into the USB port
is a snap. There’s no game port support, so you
will need use Windows 95 OSR2 or later to use
this controller. DOS games may work if run via
the Windows command prompt.

The Precision 2 is a fantastic update of a
nearly flawless product. If you’re looking for
a solid, reliable, no-frills stick, you can’t do
better than the Precision 2. And if you’re just
dipping your toe into the realm of serious
flight sims, the Precision 2 is a good place to
start. However, if you’re a seasoned Falcon
4.0 or EF2000 fanatic, you’d be better off with
something more upscale, like the CH
Products F-16 USB.

GRAVIS

DESTROYER TILT GAMEPAD

No prizes for guessing
whose svelte digits were
called upon to model for
the photo shoot

In,

Like the Sidewinder Freestyle
Pro from Microsoft, the
Destroyer Tilt can be set to respond to
your body movements: by tilting the
controller in any direction, your in-game
persona will react in kind. This function is
particularly useful when playing games such as
Motocross Madness 2 and most platform
games. On the other hand, by turning the ‘G-
Force Tilt’ technology off, the controller can be
used as a standard digital controller. As a
standard control pad for games like Rugby

2001, the buttons and D-Pad felt tight,
responsive and precise.

Using a USB interface, the Destroyer is a
breeze to setup. Simply plug-in, and your OS
will recognise the new controller immediately -

you’re ready to get fragging right out of the
box. In spite of the odd styling and offensively
coloured buttons, the Gravis Tilt is a
surprisingly robust, functional and low-cost
peripheral. Highly recommended.

112 PCPP

Hot ware Reviews

Distributor Microsoft

MICROSOFT

SIDEWINDER GAMEVOICE

Some of you may be familiar with
Roger Wilco and Battlefield
Communicator. These realtime voice chat
programs allow people to converse while
playing internet or LAN games. While popular
for clans or teams that play together regularly,
they haven’t been adopted by the mainstream
gamer - these early attempts require that both
players have the software installed to operate.
Also, both programs have rather serious
bandwidth overheads. Realising the nascent
promise of these programs, Microsoft has
entered the potentially lucrative V.I.P (Voice
over IP) market.

Over a year ago, Microsoft (in typical
fashion) acquired BattleCom, the small start-
up responsible for Battlefield Communicator.
The result of this merger is the Microsoft
Sidewinder GameVoice, a complete solution
which offers a headset microphone, an
innovative ‘base-station’ and powerful
management software. By combining the
experience of BattleCom with the
financial resources and
marketing savvy of
Microsoft, we have a real
contender. With
Microsoft’s backing,
you can be assured
that V.I.P will finally
take off.

Unlike most
packages of this type,
the GameVoice comes
with more than just a
rudimentary
headset/software combo.

What makes this so special
is the included ‘base station
which resides on your desk.

This circular device
plugs into a spare

USB port, and gives
you fingertip access
for many of the
GameVoice’s
features.

Thanks to
the large,
intuitively
placed buttons,
gamers can
easily select
which
individuals
they want to
hear, and to
whom they wish
to speak. The
buttons labelled 1
through 4 can be used
to communicate with any
combination of individuals. For example,
button 1 could be used for sending orders
to player T33t’ and ‘DeathKilla’,
button 2 could be used for
communicating with ‘DeathKilla’
alone, button 3 to ‘OMegaHaXOR’
and button 4 to ‘NarcissA’ etc. The
‘All’ button communicates with
everyone in the game, while the
‘Team’ button broadcasts
exclusively to your teammates.
The ‘All’ button is great for
end-of-game bragging and
taunting your enemies, while
the ‘Team’ function is useful
when attempting to rally your
forces, or organise an effective
attack upon an enemy
base. And, much to the
delight of Sebastian,
who uses an overclocked
300 baud modem, the GameVoice sounds

robust
and clear
over narrowband
connections! On the
other hand, Cable/DSL users
will be able to use the extra
bandwidth for better sound and smoother play.

Without question, the most impressive
feature of the Microsoft GameVoice is the
included voice recognition software. This offers
a revolutionary method of in-game control. If
you’ve ever forgotten the key for a critical game
command, this can prove invaluable. In Unreal
Tournament, for instance, by pressing the
command key on the control pad and saying
‘Sniper Rifle’, your character will automatically
shift weapons. Or, in Falcon 4, by saying ‘Flaps
Down’, you can have the computer lower your
flaps without even touching the keyboard.

Much to our collective surprise, the GameVoice
even recognises Brett’s soprano dulcets.

Short of making a conference call to your
other teammates, the Sidewinder GameVoice is
the best option for those interested in team-
based games. With the advent of broadband
internet, the Game Voice looks set to become
an essential peripheral. We can’t wait to try it
with Team Fortress 2.

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TECH

Hotware Roundup

PORTABLE

MP3 PLAYERS

Since the first devices became
available just over a year ago,
Portable MP3 players have come a long
way. Early adopters of the new technology
such as Creative and Diamond/S3 are now
producing their second generation of
players. Functionality has increased greatly
as well as sound quality. Unfortunately,
sound quality is still not a given - particular
care must be taken when choosing a
product and trying a number of players
before you buy will allow you to hear the
difference. After all beyond all the
convenience and flashy features you're
really buying a portable music player.

In the realm of portable music, MP3 players
seem to have more many more differentiating
features than portable cassette, CD or MiniDisc
players. On face value this is true as the use of
solid-state memory allows incredible scope for
different sizes and shapes of devices. When it
comes to the crunch, however, there are a
number of crucial areas that must be
considered. Beyond these areas, the choice
becomes about the look and feel of the player,
gimmicky (and perhaps useful) additional
features and whether or not you can fit the
device in the coin pocket of your jeans.

the box there. The FM tuner and voice
recording capabilities round off the player
nicely. One downside is that there is no built in
memory so the storage of the Nomad II is
limited to the size of the installed flashcard.

Creative Nomad II MG

SIZE 58 x 90 x 18 mm

BuimN memory BfiBBBI

MEMORY UPGRADES 32/MMb
PC CONNECTION

OTHER FEATURES Recordable FM timer, Voice record. Plays WMA

The Nomad II MG is essentially the same
device as the Nomad II but with a slicker
magnesium casing, minimalist display and
extra memory and features. The MG addresses
the shortcoming of its sibling by including
64Mb of built-in memory. The minimalist
design makes for a slight downgrade in the
ease of use stakes but the stylish user interface
is almost as intuitive. The ability to record FM
broadcasts and play recordings at variable
speeds are not significant additions but the
Nomad II is an excellent device and the MG
model only builds on this.

Creative Nomad lukebox

BUILT IN MEMORY N/A
MEMORY UPGRADES 32/64Mb
PC CONNECTION USB

SIZE 65 x 93 x 21 mm

OTHER FEATURES FM tuner. Voice record. Plays WMA

Creative Nomad II

Using a built-in hard drive
rather than flash memory
allows the Nomad
Jukebox its enormous
capacity. The player
looks more like a
Discman than standard
players and is
significantly larger
than the rest of the
pack. But the fact
that the player
could house a

The Nomad II has excellent
playback quality and is encased
in a stylish housing. The large
backlit LCD provides great
visibility for the Nomad II's user
interface. This interface was very
intuitive and the semi-graphical
nature of it made the player a joy to
use. USB connectivity is a necessity in
preventing frustratingly slow music
transfer and the player gets a tick in

114 PCPP

SIZE 125 x 125 x 38 mm

BUILT IN MEMORY 6Gb
MEMORY UPGRADES
PC CONNECTION USB

OTHER FEATURES Voice recording. Plays WMA, 5 min shock i»i>u;<:i

complete MP3 collection comfortably more
than makes up for its size. Because the Jukebox
has moving parts (the hard drive) it can skip;
Creative have anticipated this and included a
huge 8Mb buffer that provides for 5 minutes of
shock protection (compare this to a maximum
of 30 seconds in portable CD players). The user
interface is very similar that of the Nomad II,
which can only be a good thing, and it shares
the exact same crisp backlit LCD. More
cumbersome than the smaller players but do
you care? Not with 6Gb.

MP3 Market

The portable MP3 player market is
maturing but there are still some poor
quality systems out there. Don't sacrifice
sound quality and go for the most memory
you can afford. Systems with a maximum of
32MB should be left out of contention.

A player from Creative or S3 is your best
option at the moment but competition will
stiffen when other manufacturers debut
their latest and greatest. In the arena of
standard players the Rio 600 wins by a
nose, ahead of the Nomad II MG. For an
incredible player with incredible capacity at
the cost of a small increase in size the
Nomad Jukebox is the key.

SIZE 65 x 87 x 17.2 mm

BUILT IN MEMORY

MEMORY UPGRADES 32/64/340M1)

PC CONNECTIO N MBmHB
OTHER FEATURES Plays WMA, Snap-on faceplates

What to Look For

The following are the most important features to look for. Firstly, expandability through an expansion slot - no matter how much RAM is built into
a player, you want to be able to pick up a piece of SmartMedia or CompactFlash RAM in order to boost your storage capacity quickly and easily.
Most new models on the market have one or more card slots, allowing you to upgrade RAM or switch between different flash memory cards.
However, some players only have built-in RAM with no possibility for expansion and, as such, are way too limiting.

An effective interface is very important. Don't be fooled by too many fancy buttons. Players need to have a simple and intuitive interface - why fight the
player for domination when you just want some tunes on the go? Some players have strange, convoluted interface features that do nothing but detract
from the enjoyment of the whole "portable music" experience. It's less of an issue now that it's becoming more standard but settings retention is very
import - earlier players lacked the ability to remember anything. Some went so far as to require a volume reset with every power up. The best players
today have the ability to remember the last song you played and other settings even after you power down and take out the batteries. This is probably the
most overlooked area in choosing an MP3 player, but if you pick up a device with little or no retention, frustration will rule your digital music relationship.

Look for a machine with rugged durability - this is a may seem redundant but you'd be surprised how many flimsy players there are out there.
You want the player to last. You want to throw it in your bag, take off on a mad rush with all your gear crashing around inside while you catch that
bus, and rip it out to listen to your tunes. Who wants to reach inside and find their player with a cracked casing or with buttons popping straight out?
Some players use cheap materials that feel like lacquered rice paper with a fancy paintjob. There's no way you can survive without a durable player.

Finally and most importantly there's audio quality. Don't resign yourself to the fact that portable music means lowering your expectations for
great sound. Portable players can sound awesome - most just don't quite make it there. As I said before, try before you buy and you'll notice that
there's enormous variation in the way each unit sounds. There are great soundingplayers around, unfortunately they're not yet the majority.

jazPiper MVR64P

SIZE 66 x 60 x 18 Hint

BUILT IN MEMORY 64Mb

MEMORY UPGRADES 32/64Mb

PC CONNECTION Parallel port

OTHER FEATURES FM timer, Voice recording, Phoneboo!

k(250)’

The newer 64Mb jazPiper is a great
improvement over the original. The sound
quality has improved to bring it up to a very
good level. The inclusion of an FM tuner is also
a nice addition. The user interface and LCD are
also very solid. The phonebook function is an
impressive extra that seems to be unique to the
jazPiper and indicates the movement towards
convergence of portable audio, mobile
telephony and PDA's. What lets the jazPiper
down however is the parallel connection. Slow
transfer speeds are the only significant
drawback of this very good value machine.

S3 Rio 600

Diamond Multimedia brought some of the first
MP3 players to the market. Now, under the S3
banner, the latest incarnation of the excellent
Rio series is born. The sound quality of the Rio

600 rivals
that of the
Creative
products
with
true

longer cutting edge. In terms of sound quality
the unit is a very strong performer, and
reaches the top of the heap for high volume
popular music. The display is text-only
restricting the user interface but the menus
have been implemented quite well. The Yepp is
very similar to the jazPiper in both look and
features. The standard parallel connection was
frowned upon but at least there is an option for
USB - this should really be standard, however.

The Yepp is a good value machine and great if
you want it constantly on full volume, if you

M9Sh - '

§& Ik can handle

gjj n j §jg

| cranking it

|j| down a

> c<

Jv, notch you
will find
a better

solution

elsewhere

reproduction
throughout the sound

spectrum. The LCD is sharp and bright and the
user interface has a very comfortable feel about
it. Faceplates can be snapped on and off the
player making it a switchable fashion
accessory as well. The Rio 600 uses an
unconventional proprietary method for
memory expansion - the entire back of the
player houses the memory and is swapped to
gain greater capacity. This allows the Rio's
awesome 340Mb upgrade, giving the player a
huge 372Mb. The player looks very good,
replacing the standard metallic rectangle with
sexy organic curves. This is definitely one of
the best players out there.

Samsung Yepp E-64

SIZE 65 x 87 x 17.2 mm

BUILT IN

MEMORY UPGRADES 16/32Mb
PC CONNECTION Parallel port (USB optional)

OTHER FEATURES Voice recording, Phonebook (350)

Although Samsung has recently been trumping
up their MP3 players their flagship model is no

Final Recommendations

• Diamond Rio 600

• Creative Nomad II MG

• Creative Nomad lukebox

The podium is shared by three of the
contenders, all on a fairly even keel. The Rio
600 probably just pips the Nomad II MG at
the post due to its expandability. The sheer
volume of music that the Nomad Jukebox
can hold is breathtaking.

PCPP 115

Humming away in a corner of the
high security PC PowerPlay complex,
the Beast is the pinnacle of PC technology.
The Beast pushes the boundaries of
supercomputing and is banned from sale in
34 countries. Developed in conjunction with
Silicon Graphics, Cray and MIT, the PCPP
Beast is able to simulate nuclear explosions
at the atomic level, crunch Mersian Primes,
while simultaneously rendering Ultima
Ascension at over 400 frames per second. In
sum, it makes the lovechild of Deep Blue
and HAL 9000 seem a mere toy.

Gamers should own a beast for themselves.

CPU: Dual Pentium III 1.13 GHz

Contrary to Intel’s assertion, the recently
announced 1.13 GHz Pentium III Coppermine
does work in SMP mode. While supplies of the
chip are scarce and outrageously expensive,
you can rest assured that you’ll thrash any
single processor system in Quake3. Now that
Windows 2000 supports SMP and DirectX 7,
we should be seeing more games that are
capable of utilising SMP. When the AMD
Athlon goes dual (Mustang, anyone?), we’ll give
it consideration!

Motherboard: Microstar 694D Pro
The 694D is MSI’s latest Apollo Pro 133A
dual motherboard. The Apollo Pro is the only
chipset that supports 133MHz Coppermine
processors without using RAMBUS. The 694D
also comes with tons of expansion slots, an
ATA/100 controller and integrated IDE RAID

support. If you’re interested, this board is
also available with an optional Texas
Instruments IEEE 1394 Firewire controller.
The creme-de-la-creme.

RAM: 256Mb KingMaxx TinyBGA
PC 150 SDRAM

256Mb RAM should keep the Beast in check for
some time. Excellent for those times when you
need to run Photoshop, Deus Ex and Quake3
simultaneously! PC 150 rated RAM means it can
be operated at an unprecedented 150MHz. This
is particularly useful for overclockers who plan
to run their FSB beyond 133MHz.

SCSI Card: Adaptec AHA-2940U2W
Dual channel Ultra 2 Wide SCSI card from
Adaptec. ‘Nuff said.

Hard Drive: Seagate Cheetah X15 18Gb
The fastest hard disk available, the X15
trounces all the competition. The SCSI X15
runs at a huge 15,000 rpm, and has a chunky
4Mb of cache. If you buy a couple of these, you
can run them in a redundant RAID array...

Optical Drive: Ricoh M9060A
With the M9060M, Ricoh has combined the
functionality of a DVD-ROM and a CD-RW drive
into one compact unit. The M9060 can read at
24x, write at 8x, rewrite at 4x and read DVD-
ROM at 4x. Very impressive.

Videocard: Asus V7800 GeForce 2
GTS Ultra

The GeForce 2 GTS is the fastest graphics

accelerator on the market - coupled with 64Mb
of DDRAM and Asus’ cool SmartDoctor
utilities, the V7800 is the one to beat.

Soundcard: Creative SoundBlaster
Live! Platinum

The SB Live! Platinum package includes the
perennially popular SBLive! Card, as well as
the Live Drive II Optical interface. It also comes
bundled with a massive software package.

Speakers: Videologic Sirocco Crossfire
The Crossfire setup has it all: 4 speaker
surround, a hefty bass bin and music fidelity
that puts a Rotel system to shame. The perfect
adjunct to the SB Live Platinum.

Monitor: Sony G500 21” Trinitron

Able to pull off 2048x1536, this is bound to
impress the mates, especially when used in
conjunction with a capable videocard like the
V7800. Big, flat and sexy. Best of all, it’s a Sony.

Case: Supermicro SC750-A
The Supermicro 750 is a behemoth. It can
hold up to 16 fans, comes equipped with an
AMD approved 300W Sparkle power supply,
and has wheels on the bottom! A quality case
like this could conceivably outlast the rest of
your components.

Networking: 3COM 3C905C-TX
3Com have a reputation for making the best
networking cards. The PCI-based 3C905C is
no exception, with the best drivers and
support available.

116 PCPP

When we build a motherboard, you know it's
going to have more than just plain guts.

It's going to be fast, lightning fast, to keep
pace with the latest chips on the market.

That's what you need in a motherboard.

Celeron, Pentium, Athlon, Duron - an AOpen
motherboard can mix it with the best. And with
Die Hard Bios in the Pro series you know, quick
as a flash, our motherboards are champion
performers.

Don't spit chips. Check out the latest range
of AOpen motherboards - if you can handle
the pace.

Give us a quick call today about our
motherboards.

AX34 Pro - VIA 694X

Die Hard Bios with external switch • VIA 694X chipset

• Jumper-less design • Supports PC-133 RAM

• 4x AGP • Sound on-board

AX3S Pro - Intel 815E

Supports Intel Celeron and Pentium III
Socket 370 CPU • Die Hard Bios with
external controller • Supports PCI 33
SDRAM DIMM • Enlarged 24K gold
plated heatsink for chipset • Intergrated
2D/3D graphics engine with Dynamic
Video Memory Technology: 4MB SDRAM
display cache on board and one AGP slot
for 4x/2x/lx AGP graphics card upgrade

MK33 - Duron 2 Athlon

Supports AMD Athlon and Duron Socket A
CPUs • Supports PCI 33 and VCM133
(virtual channel memory) DIMM • Supports
lx/2x/4x AGP mode • Resetable fuse
providing short circuit protection for
keyboard and USB device • ACPI S3
(suspend to RAM) and S4 (suspend to disk)

Mainboards

CD & DVD Roms

Sound Cards

Graphics Cards

Cases

Open

Component Solutions

service for excellence

NSW: Best Byte (02) 9436 0788 • Paradigm X (02) 9524 6699 • Advanced Customised Computers (02) 9692 9988 VIC: Best Byte
(03) 9561 8777 • Omega (03) 9800 3444 • Sato (03) 9899 6333 QLD: Compuworld (07) 3846 7588 • Omega (07) 3272 2386
• Intermedia (07) 3369 0477 • QLD I.T. (07) 4634 7999 • Sato (07) 32556899 SA: Crest (08) 835 1 0500 • Omega (08) 8410 3434
WA: Direct Memory Access (08) 9445 9500 ACT: Cougar Computers (02) 6255 4333 PNG: Daltron Electronics (675) 325 6766.
Servex Australia Pty Ltd.ACN 076 438 808, AOpen is a registered trademark of AOpen Inc. All other product, brand and company
names are trademarks of their prospective owners. _ _ _ _ J _

MAAQFDinnfi

DANIEL RUTTER WAXES TECHNICAL

WRITE TO

SETUP
PC PowerPlay
PO BOX 634
Strawberry Hills
NSW 2016
setup@pcpower
play.com.au
When you write
remember to include
as much pertinent
information as
possible. Send your
CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT
and any
associated *.INI
files for Windows
that might tell me
more about your
problem. Give me
as detailed an
explanation as you
can and be sure to
include as much
detail as possible
about your PC.

Feel free to email
your questions or,
if you want to snail
mail, please
remember to write
clearly or better
still print your
letters. Please
note that due to
the volume of
messages we
receive, we cannot
guarantee a
response to all of
your queries.

Red ones go faster!

w Howdy ho to all the people at
J J ^ PCPP! I’m sitting here
* looking at my PC case and
was wondering if I could give a facelift.
What I mean is, giving it a nice paint
job. Getting rid of this crappy beige
colour for something groovier and a lot
nicer to look at. But I wouldn’t have a
clue where to start, what types of paints
I could use and even if it’s safe for my
PC. I can take all the panels off the case
and pretty much get it down to it’s skin
and bones. I know this isn’t really a
hardware or a major computer question,
but I thought someone at PCPP might
have given it a go.

Darren Ecclestone

Hey, no problem. All you
need to do is start with a
computer case:

... and then just slap some paint on it:

It’s really that simple! My mad
Photoshop skillz aside, painting PC
cases ain’t too hard. It’s easy enough to
get the panels off just about any case,
even if they’re riveted on - you can drill
out pop rivets. Then you just go over
‘em with a power drill and wire brush
until you’ve got bare steel, and paint
‘em with anything that’ll stick to metal.

You can use multiple sanded-back
coats of automotive paint and make it
really gorgeous, if you like. More than a
few PC fetishists have persuaded car
respray places to do their PCs for not
too many dollars. But plastic front
panels are more of a problem. You can
get paints that stick OK to plastic from
model shops (it’s expensive, but you
don’t need much) or, no doubt, proper
paint suppliers. But your PC will look
dorky if your CD-ROM and floppy drive
front panels are still beige, so you’ve
got to do them too. Which can be fiddly.

If you’re going to have a stab at it,

I’d recommend you go to a computer shop
and buy a new case - something nice and
solid - and screw around with THAT,
while your PC’s still working in the old
case. Then you can transplant it when
the job’s done, and you don’t lose the PC
for days on end as you wait for paint to
dry. Or for the hot-rod shop to finish
putting purple flames down the side.

Modem voodoo

Yo PCPowerPlayers!!! I have
one question, and that is about
(drum roll please) - Modems!
Yes yes, I know everyone writes in
about this, BUT I would like to know
what some of the jargon means, as I
have just downloaded an excellent,
freeware software package call iSpeed.

It lets you optimise your modem TTL,
MTU, RWIN etc., and it even explains to
some extent what these mean.
Unfortunately, that “some extent” isn’t
that great. So, I would like to know what
MTU, RWIN, MSS and TTL mean.

I have a 56kbps modem, what would
be a good config for it? The program is
available from http://www.hms.com/ ,
and is a handy dandy little thing.

FRiO

What do the acronyms
mean? Nothing important.
Oh, all right.

MTU is Maximum Transmission Unit,
the biggest packet size a network will
transmit. RWIN’s the TCP Receive
Window size; it’s how much
unacknowledged data there can be in a
TCP connection before things grind to a
halt as the transmitter waits for some
hint that the receiver’s still listening.
MSS is the TCP Maximum Segment Size,
the most data that a node can send in one
segment. TTL is Time To Live, how many
seconds or network “hops”, whichever is
the larger, a packet is allowed to take
before the devices relaying it are
allowed to give up and kill it.

There’s no magic bullet setting
that’ll suddenly give you much better
speed from a modem connection.

Modem connections suck. You can’t
make ‘em stop sucking. Live with it.

If you’ve got an old version of
Windows 95, before Dial-Up Networking
(DUN) version 1.3, then you’ve probably
got an MTU setting bug that may halve
your connection speed at times. But
just grabbing the DUN 1.3 update from
Microsoft cures it, and further MTU
fiddling will only gain you about half
an RCH more speed.

I’m not going to tell you what RCH
stands for. Ask your daddy.

Winding up RWIN on a broadband
connection (which your modem is NOT)
can help throughput from high-latency
sites - Web surfing in the States, in
other words. It won’t do you any good
for games, and it won’t do anything
significant for modem connections.

Various people are under the
impression that there should be some
relationship between RWIN and MSS.
They’re wrong. Well, they might have
an obscure technical point, but they
don’t get any more speed out of it. Some
old broken TCP/IP stacks were
apparently significantly less crap if you
made RWIN some multiple of MSS, but
this doesn’t apply for more recent
operating systems.

Fiddling with TTL is just goofy. The
point of the setting is to stop packets
from causing gridlock if they’re routed

118 PCPP

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Hail great and mighty tech-
guy, [Note - for the comfort
of readers who are trying to
eat, 150 words of wow-you-guys-are-
so-great text has been excised from
this letter. It may have worked this
time, but bribery’s more reliable - Ed.]
So, I saved up a bit of money, and
am now the proud owner of a speedy
PIII-533EB [I’m going to assume you
hit the wrong key, there, and mean
733EB or something - the slowest EB
P-III is the 600 - Ed]. However, and
this is where my question starts,
while investigating which games to
invest in, I have come across the
abbreviations TCP/IP and IPX, as
requirements for multiplayer on
many titles.

In an attempt to avoid
succumbing to the inevitable
condemnation my peers would
impose upon me, can you please
provide an answer to this question.

Francis

Y’know Francis, in your
enthusiasm to kiss PCPP’s
bottom so enthusiastically
that we’re all going to have bum-
hickeys for weeks, you plumb forgot to
finish ASKING that question. But no
matter. I know what you mean.

IPX/SPX and TCP/IP are both
network protocols - sets of rules by
which data can be transferred over a
Local or Wide Area Network (LAN or
WAN). Network games pretty much all
require one or the other in order to work.
The Internet is the ultimate WAN, and
uses TCP/IP; a home network is a LAN,
and can use all sorts of protocols,
including IPX/SPX and TCP/IP.

Actually, both of these “protocols”
are really two protocols - IPX/SPX is

the Sequenced Packet Exchange
transfer layer protocol running on top
of the Internetwork Packet Exchange
networking protocol, and TCP/IP is
Internet Protocol on top of Transport
Control Protocol. They’re colloquially
treated as single protocols, though,
and you deal with them as if they
were one lump in Windows.

Modern operating systems let you
run more than one protocol on a
single network. The current flavours
of Windows actually make it about as
easy as it CAN be to run IPX/SPX and
TCP/IP simultaneously.

The third common LAN protocol
is NetBEUI. It’s a good no-
configuration-needed protocol for
simple business LANs, but I don’t
know of any games that use it.

Different versions of Windows
install different protocols by default,
but you can add and remove
protocols as you like. Fool around in
Network Properties and you’ll get the
idea quickly enough.

If you use TCP/IP, every computer
on the network has to have an IP
address. This means you either need a
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) server somewhere on the
network (Windows 98SE and 2000’s
Internet Connection Sharing does
DHCP, for instance), or you have to set
static IP addresses for the machines.

Or you can just leave them with
the default Windows get-an-address-
automatically setting, if they’re all
running Win98 or later. If 98-and-later
versions of Windows CAN’T find a
DHCP server to give them an IP
address, they’ll pick a random one
from the “LINKLOCAL network” IP
address space, which means an address
starting with 169.254 and with two

more arbitrary numbers on
the end. The LINKLOCAL
space is a “class B
network”, which means the
network ID, indicated by
the subnet mask, is the
first two numbers.

All 169.254.X.X
computers can see each
other provided they have
one different number out of
the last two, and since the
last two numbers can be
from 0 to 255 and from 1 to
254 respectively, up to
64,515 computers can be on
this network at once and
address clashes are unlikely.

LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS THE MOST EXCELLENT SIDEWINDER
AND DUAL STRIKE CONTROL PADS FROM MICROSOFT'S PREMIERE
RANGE OF GAME CONTROLLERS. CHEERS MICROSOFT!

The auto-address option works OK,
but the computer always pauses during
startup as it looks for a DHCP server.

Any protocol you’ve got installed,
or all, or none, can be used on a LAN
for Windows file and printer sharing.
It depends on what services you
choose to “bind” to which protocol.

It doesn’t hurt to have everything
bound to everything; it’s just untidy.

Configuration J identification | Access Control j
The folbwing network components are installed:

? Dial-Up Adapter
SRealtek RTL8029 Fj
IT TCP/IP -> Dial-Up J

Primary Network Logon:
j Windows Logon

File and Print Shatir

Description

TCP/IP is the protoco
wide-area networks.

TCP/IP Properties

DNS Configuration | Gateway j WINS Configuration ] IP Address
Bindings | Advanced | NetBIOS

Click the network components that will communicate using this
protocol. T o improve your computer's speed, dick only the
components that need to use this protocol.

@ Client for Microsoft Networks
| @ File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks

Managing network settings
in Windows 95/98 is about
as easy as it can get

iLlggZjl

You would think it would waste
some significant amount of memory,
or eat more processor time, or
something, but there is actually no
difference. Feel free to prune out
protocols and clients and bindings
that you’re not using for anything - if
you have got the Client for NetWare
Networks and you’re not ON a
NetWare network, there ain’t much
point keeping it - but don’t expect to
see a performance gain.

PCPP 119 I

TECH

TECH TIPS

I'm building a new
PC with everything
new except my
hard drive. I don't
whether I should
take it out of my
old one (P90,

16Mb, Windows 95)
and just put it in
my new one.

Would this work
and would it
recognise all the
new hardware? By
the way, I'm going
to upgrade to
Windows 98.

Andrew

When you make
major changes to
the configuration
of a Windows
95/98 machine -
anything involving
a motherboard
change, basically
- you have to at
the very least run
Setup again.
This'll do an over-
the-top reinstall,
and install the
right drivers for
all of the low
level stuff that's
different on different
motherboards.

It's easy enough
to do by starting
from a Win98
startup disk, or
just booting from
a Win98 CD;
most current
systems can boot
from their CD-
ROM drive.

If you don't
reinstall, you've
done the rough
equivalent of
yanking the four
cylinder engine
out of your
Pulsar, dropping a
V8 into the gap,
slamming the
bonnet shut and
expecting it to
work. Even when
you run Setup
again, there's no
guarantee that it
won't go bananas
in the setup
procedure when
trying to upgrade
95 AND detect
new hardware
AND maintain the
previous system
config. It's worth
a try, but you
may find yourself
renaming your old
Windows directory
and installing to a
new one, to get a
fresh start.

incorrectly, or sent around in loops. With
a TTL of 32 (the default in Win95), no
packet will ever live more than 32
seconds. Most will either get to their
destination or be killed much sooner
than that, as TTL’s reduced by one on any
routing hop, no matter how quick, and
most hops take a lot less than a second.

Win98’s default TTL is 128, to guard
against the rare cases when more than
32 hops are needed to get to a
destination machine. This only happens
once in a blue moon, but it’s a big
Internet and it DOES happen now and
then, especially when major node
outages mean traffic’s forced to take all
sorts of weird routes around the globe.

If packets aren’t making it to a
destination, increasing TTL might solve
the problem. If it’s taking more than
128 hops (or seconds) for packets to
make it, though, you’ll be in same-day-
service mode anyway and might as well
go and feed some ducks or something.
Decreasing TTL to “speed things up” is
about as sensible as deciding to service
your car next week, instead of next
year, and hoping that your decision will
make it go faster right now.

There are reasons for SOME people
doing SOME specialised things to fiddle
with these settings, but for most
applications, including games, there’s
no reason to.

Whither P-IIs?

I’m writing concerning the
sudden demise of Pentium IIs.
When Pentium IIs came in a
while back (I’m not sure how long ago),
they were all the rage. Testing and
reviews done by various magazines
(yours included), said that they were a
helluvalot faster than Celeron
processors, and any other chip produced
by Intel’s rivals. And apparently, the
price was reasonable.

Now what I want to know is - what
happened to them?! With the
appearance of Pentium Ills, the Pentium
IIs have disappeared. I am currently
looking for a computer, and would like a
Pentium II, because it’s not as
expensive as the P-III, and performs a
lot better than the Celeron. Why have
Intel taken this great, value-for-money,
chip off the market?

Andre Eliatamby

The inferior Celeron you’re
thinking of was the original
version - the 266 and 300MHz
Slot 1 models. Those were the only two
Celerons to use the “Deschutes” core,
which was essentially a Pentium II without
the separate Level 2 cache RAM chips.

Since the P-II core doesn’t have any
L2 cache built in to the processor core,

those two original Celerons did indeed
suffer for cache-sensitive tasks; all they
had was their Level 1 cache. But they
were actually pretty good for 3D games,
particularly when you consider that
both of them were rather likely to run
perfectly happily from 100MHz Front
Side Bus (FSB), versus their default
66MHz. This turned them into 400 and
450MHz processors, respectively.

After the original 300MHz Celeron
came the “300A”, the first model to use
the new “Mendocino” core with full-
speed Level 2 cache built in. Every
Celeron from the 300A to the 533 uses
the same core - the newer ones are
square “Socket 370” chips instead of
big-cartridge Slot 1 ones, but the
silicon’s the same.

The Mendocino core is pretty much
exactly as fast, for single-processor
business apps and games, as a Pentium
II at the same clock speed. Which
rather put the kybosh on the whole P-II
caper, really.

Celerons from the “533A” upwards
use the new “Coppermine 128” core,
which is a chopped-down Pentium III
that performs significantly better at a
given clock speed than the Mendocino.

If you want P-II performance, no
problem. Go and grab yourself a
Celeron. The Mendocino-core ones work
on practically any Pentium Il-capable
motherboard (with a cheap “slotket”
adaptor board to turn the new Socket
370 CPUs into a Slot 1 package), and
the Celeron 466, 500 and 533 are all
faster, for desktop computer tasks, than
any P-II ever made.

Detective work

Dear Great and Almighty
PCPP Technical Person. [Hey!
Sort it out, you guys! He’s
“great and mighty”, or he’s “great and
ALmighty”. Dissension in the Church of
Dan will not be tolerated - Ed.]

I desperately need your help!

I’ve got the biggest stuffed up
computer in the world and I don’t know
any one who can fix the piece of s!#t.

One of my friends stuffed their
computer and tried to fix it using mine.

I don’t how they stuffed theirs but he
certainly stuffed mine.

After swapping drives into a my
friend’s computer, which didn’t help it,
we reinstalled them into my computer,
and guess what it came up with?
“System hardware abnormal.” And to
top it off the internal speaker was
beeping its head off at me.

I can’t remove the stupid
abnormality. So we tried formatting the
hard drive and reinstalled Windows 98,
but it didn’t help, and my drive
detection’s all messed up too.

How on earth can I remove the
abnormality? And what would be
making a pain in the arse whirring
noise inside of my computer when I
start it up? My computer sounds as if
it’s going to blow up!

Zaphod

Probably, that whirring
noise you hear is a cable
jammed in the CPU fan.
That’d cause it to spin slowly enough
that the alarm would go off.

If you still get the problem, and the
CPU cooler’s demonstrably working
(this bit of the answer’s for other
Microstar users, not really you...), then
press Delete during startup to go into
the BIOS setup, go to Special Features
Setup, and set “CPU fan detected” to
“Disabled”.

The other problems you have may be
caused by scrambled BIOS settings,
caused by electrostatic discharge or
some other mishap while you were
screwing with the system. In BIOS
setup, load the setup defaults from the
first menu (which will turn CPU fan
detection back on again, if you turned it
off before...) and then re-setup the
system. Little to nothing needs to be
done, on modern computers.

If one drive or another still isn’t
detected, it’s possibly fried, but it’s
probably just not plugged in properly.
Make sure the connector’s the right
way round and plugged in solidly.

Celeron cranking

I own a weedy Celeron 3 00 A,
with 64Mb of PC 100 ram,
8.4Gb hard drive and an 8Mb
TNT2 M64. My Celeron is the old one
(slot 1), so my question to you is could I
overclock my Celeron to a 450 just by
changing the bus frequency to 100MHz
on the motherboard?

By the way my motherboard is a
Jetway J-791BS. Would I need to buy a
extra fan to cool the CPU, so it doesn’t
overheat and fry?

Jonathon Tinsley

Something like four out of
five 300As will run at
450MHz perfectly happily,
without any voltage tweaking. Which
you can’t do on the Jetway J-791BS,
anyway. But it’s got a jumper setting for
100MHz FSB, so it’s worth a go. It can
also handle 90MHz and 112MHz, both of
which you might like to try - don’t expect
112MHz to work, but 90MHz might be
fine if your CPU can’t handle 450MHz.

You probably won’t need extra
cooling, either; as long as you’ve got
reasonable case ventilation, the stock
Intel cooler will very likely be fine.

120 PCPP

Smile. Now you can meet face to face
with friends and family over the Internet
or email still photos as well as video clips.
3 USB Models to choose from - for PC and Mac.

With Kensington VideoCams
you can do it all - and at a great price.

VideoCam 400 x 300 ppi - $99.95 rrp
VideoCam VGA 640 x 480 ppi - $149.95 rrp
VideoCam SuperVGA 800 x 600 ppi - $199.95 rrp

Available from: BUY.COM - www.au.buy.com

HARVEY NORMAN - www.harveynorman.com.au INTERNATIONAL SOFTWARE WAREHOUSE - www.iswh.com.au

HARRIS TECHNOLOGY - www.ht.com.au CORPORATE EXPRESS - www.ce.com.au

ELECTRONICS BOUTIQUE OFFICE NATIONAL-www.officenational.com.au

PAW PRODUCTS - www.paw.com.au Trade Enquiries: ACCO Australia 02 9700 0180

CD POUERPLfW #5H

Starting CD PowerPlay

Welcome to the latest edition of CD PowerPlay. This month's two discs include some of the hottest demos from
around the world. Highlight of this month's selection is the long-awaited expansion pack for Microsoft's all-time
classic realtime strategy game, Age of Empires II. Half-Life owners be sure to also check out Counterstrike!

As always, navigation through the online menus is easy. Simply click on the category you want and then select the
game or utility. We hope you enjoy this month's CD and hope to see you back next month for another dose of
gaming goodness.

cdtech@powerplay.next.com.au

Faulty CDs will be replaced free of charge. Send it, together with a description of the error, to:

PC PowerPlay CD Returns
Reply Paid 634
78 Renwick St

Redfern NSW 2016 (No postage required)

122 PCPP

BLAIR bllTCH MOLUPIE 1:
RUSTin PRRR

Category: Adventure
Developer: Gathering Of
Developers

Need: P233, 64MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct 3D
Multiplayer: N/A

The player assumes the role of Elspeth
"Doc" Holliday, scientific investigator for
Spookhouse, a shadowy agency
dedicated to protecting the world from
supernatural evil. The year is 1941. An
insane hermit named Rustin Parr has
confessed to murdering seven children
in the quiet Maryland town of
Burkittsville. His claim is that an "old
woman ghost" drove him to his heinous
crimes. Parr's rantings coincide with
age-old local legends: tales of the cursed
woods surrounding the town and a
murderous, vengeful entity that has
haunted Burkittsville for two hundred
years, an abomination known locally as
"The Blair Witch." Spookhouse has taken
keen interest in the subject. Doc travels
to Burkittsville to investigate...

Keys

FI: Display list of controls

F2: Save game

F3: Restore game

F5: Toggle sound

F6: Quick save

F9: Quick load

F11: Brighten Screen (Gamma
Settings)

F12: Darken Screen (Gamma
Settings)

ESC- Pause

DELTA FORCE: LAI1D WARRIOR

Category: Action
Developer: Novalogic
Need: P266, 64MB RAM, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct 3D
Multiplayer: TCP/IP, IPX
Delta Force: Land Warrior is the follow-
up to the popular special forces action
games, Delta Force and Delta Force 2.

A cohesive, character-driven storyline
raises the stakes over the previous
games, introducing a squad of five
veteran Delta Force soldiers. Players
will step into the boots of each squad

member as the team carries out
special operations ranging from
hostage rescue to sabotage to direct
assaults on terrorist compounds.

Controls

Mouse Controls: Look up/down,
turn left/right

Left Mouse Button: Fire Weapon
Right Mouse Button: Toggle Scope
Middle Mouse Button: (if available)
Lie Prone

VIEWS

F3: 1st Person POV

F4: Show Gun Toggle (1st person

only)

F5: 3rd Person, follow camera
F6: 3rd Person, non-tracking
F7: Drop Cam (locks camera in a
set location)

MOVEMENT
Arrow Keys : Move
forward/backward, sidestep
left/ right
P: Look Up

Look Down
L: Look Left
;: Look Right

Shift: Walk (hold down while using
arrow keys)

Space bar: Jump
Delete: Stand
End: Crouch
Page Down: Lie Prone

DEUS EX UPDATED DEP10 +

extra mission

Category: Action/RPG
Developer: Eidos Interactive
Need: P2-300, 64MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct 3D
Multiplayer: N/A
The future is here, and the world has
becomes a dangerous place.
Terrorists operate openly, killing
thousands: drug, disease, and
pollution kill even more. The world's
economies are close to collapse and
the gap between the insanely
wealthy and the desperately poor has
grown to the size of the Grand
Canyon. Worst of all, an ages old

KISS PSyCHO CIRCUS

Category: Firstperson Shooter

Developer: Gathering Of Developers

Need: P266, 64MB, SVGA, 3D Card

3D: Direct3D ,

Multiplayer: TCP/IP, IPX

■ Kiss: Psycho Circus is a demonic world of mystery and
horror, where the player must battle the hideous freaks- #
of-nature spawned by the Nightmare Child. The game
is an intense firstperson shooter that is based on the
rich world created by Todd McFarlane in his best-
selling comic books.

The player begins as a mere mortal and progressively
acquires the powers ofThe Elder, a supernatural being.

The Elder is embodied by four alter egos that are based on V
the Kiss characters. The alter egos are the Demon, the
Starbearer, the Beast King, and the Celestial. Together,
they can prevent the unraveling of the universe.

PCPP 123

1771 443 1 85005

Australia’s only DVD magazine

world class geek or movie genius?

Censor’s knife:

k how it cuts your DVDs

conspiracy bent on world domination
has decided that the time is right to
emerge from the shadows and take
control. No one believes they exist.

No one but you.

This is an updated demo with all
patches applied. We've even been so
kind enough to include an extra
level. Enjoy !

Controls

MOVING

UP, W: Move Forward

DOWN, S: Move Backward

LEFT, A: Strafe (sidestep) Left

RIGHT, D: Strafe (sidestep) Right

Z: Turn Left

C: Turn Right

Q: Lean Left

E: Lean Right

Spacebar, Ins: Jump

X, Num Crouch

M: Mouse Look

Shift (hold): Walk/Run

Caps Lock Toggle: Walk/Run

USING ITEMS/WEAPONS
Left Mouse Button, Enter:

Use Object in Hand
Right Mouse Button:

Use Object in World
Tab, Center Mouse Button:
Drop/Throw Item
Backspace: Put Item Away
Mousewheel Up:

Select Next Belt Item
Mousewheel down:

Select Previous Belt Item
0-9: Select Belt Items

FI: Open Inventory Screen
;: Reload Weapon
[: Toggle Scope
]: Toggle Laser Sight
': Change Ammo

SflniTV: HIKER'S flffWACT

Category: Action/Adventure
Developer: Fox Interactive
Need: P2-300, 64MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct 3D
Multiplayer: N/A
Years from now, citizens around the
world begin to display remarkable
psychic abilities. These citizens, called
Psionics, are tormented souls able to
generate and control energy
emissions using only their minds—
often with catastrophic and deadly
results. Succumbing to the lure of the
power they possess, the Psionics will
stop at nothing to achieve control of
the universe.

Your mission is to stop the
Psionics from taking over the world
without losing Cain's sanity. On you
quest to bring the rogue Psionics to
justice, you will infiltrate secret drug
labs, explore demon-infested
catacombs, and even participate in a
sick and twisted game show.

Keys

PLAYER MOVEMENT

Right mouse button:

move towards cursor

Left mouse button: select/action

Left Arrow: move left

Right Arrow: move right
Up Arrow: move up
Down Arrow: move down

OTHER KEYS

1-0: select talent in slot 1-10
C: toggle camera mode
W: zoom out
S: zoom in

A: rotate camera right
D: rotate camera left
G: gun

E: restore camera defaults
Z: mouse swivel camera
Q: move camera behind player

THRRDOR

Category: Realtime Strategy
Developer: JoWood
Need: P200, 32MB, SVGA
3D: Direct 3D
Multiplayer: TCP/IP, IPX
Many years ago the Golraths, an
aggressive and merciless people
living not far from our galaxy, started
to conquer and enslave other
galaxies and to exterminate the
population. So the other nations
formed an alliance against these
aggressive Golraths. This
independent military organization
was named "Alliance of Avares" or
just "Ares", after its place of
foundation. Thandor puts you in
command of Ares' troops on a
mission to save the galaxy from the
Golraths' tyrannical rule.

Keys

All movements via the mouse

TOnV HRiilK’S PRO SKRTER 2

Category: Sports

Developer: Activision

Need: P200, 32MB, SVGA, 3D Card

3D: Direct3D

Multiplayer: N/A

All of the tricks that made Tony Hawk's

Pro Skater so much fun to play are

back. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 takes it
to the next level with hundreds of
additional tricks, including
nose/tailslides, nose/bluntslides,
varial flip, a multitude of new grabs,
expanded inverts, lip tricks, nollies,
manuals, and more realistic switch
skating. And when they fall, players
will see and hear the enhanced bails,
nutters, knee slides, pole wraps, board
breaks and wall splats.

Keys
IN GAME

Slide: Numpad 8, V
Jump/Olly : Numpad 2, SPACEBAR
Grab: Numpad 6, B
Kick: Numpad 4, C

Up Arrow: Up
Down Arrow: Down
Left Arrow: Left
Right Arrow: Right

Spin Left Continuous: Numpad 7
Spin Right Continuous: Numpad 1
Spin Left 180: Numpad 9
Spin Right 180: Numpad 3

PCPP 125

There's developers all across the

world working hard every day and night jL for years to get their

games made right. They put a hell of a lot of work in to them,

and they make 'em tough. That's where PC GameGuide comes

in. We've got fl everything you'll ever need, and more.

niAUCfWWWWWSj

You’ll find more than your average walkthroughs in PC GameGuide -

we do so much more than the usual "go here, turn left, kill baddie". Once you've read one of our

playguides you'll know everything there is to know about that game.

But it's not just

walkthroughs that we pride ourselves on. General tips, gaming help, and strategies for a huge variety of

games are covered Ak in every issue. fimnsu All the hints to get you through the hard bits in all

the cool games. If you want it, we'll have it. rSEWETSS] Because we go

beyond the traditional 'walk-

throughs', you'll find out about all the secrets in the games, and you’ll know where all the weird

/ \

stuff happens.

PLAYGUIDES!

1 1 In short, there's

enough material in every issue to allow you to live your

gaming lifestyle to the fullest. Live your life the way you

want, with

PC GAMEGUIDi

at your side.

HERUV PIETRL: FRKK2

Category: Firstperson Shooter
Developer: Gathering Of Developers
Need: P2-233, 32MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: OpenGL
Multiplayer: N/A
Based on the Heavy Metal universe,
FAKK2 puts you in the shoes of julie, a
steel-eyed huntress and expert warrior.
FAKK fights with a single purpose - she
will not rest until she's freed her sister

RUGBV 2001

Category: Sports
Developer: EA Sports
Need: P200, 32MB, SVGA
3D: Direct 3D

Multiplayer: N/A

Rugby 2001 features 20 real
international teams and over 600
real players with statistics taken
from Rugby World Cup '99. Sculpting
techniques were used for the
creation of realistic likenesses of
actual players including build, height,
and player numbers. An all-new 3D
game engine allows smoother, more
realistic player animations and
dynamic stadium and player lighting.
Players even get dirty when they fall
over, yet only the area that comes in
contact with the ground will be
affected. Use any camera angle you
wish to view all the intense rugby
action. Note: You can play one half
between England and Australia.

Controls

Run/up/down/left/right - Arrow Keys
Pass left/right - Z / X
Punt/drop Kick: A
Up and Under: S
Grubber Kick: D

Soccer Kick (ball is on the ground): D
Tackle/Contest tackle: Z
Change controlled player: X
Hand-off / Sprint: V
Touch-down / Dive on ball: C
Try: Any Key

0TUPID IDURDERG

Category: Adventure
Developer: UbiSoft
Need: P200, 32MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct 3D

Multiplayer: N/A

After accidentally crash landing on Earth,

Etno and his alien pals unwind from
their latest calamity. With a moment
break, the five hapless aliens find
themselves on the run from an evil
scientist, Dr. Sakarine, who collects
aliens as a hobby. However, this evil
professor and his hired henchman,
Bolok, have plans for Etno and his
friends, which include a
comprehensive study of alien
physiology. The aliens will have to do
their best to find crazy solutions and
escape the clutches and scalpels of
the madman.

Keys

All controls are via the mouse

RIRFIX D00FI0HT

Category: FlightSim
Developer: Visual Park
Need: P2-300, 64MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct3D, Glide
Multiplayer: N/A
Enter the daydreaming fantasies of a
marauding kid, home alone in a
empty house. Building his own Airfix
models, equipping them with
firecrackers and other homemade
weapons, he takes the role of a
World War II fighter pilot. Now our
hero has finally gotten a chance to
prove his skills. The parents have
gone astray and left him alone with
his opposing forces. It's time fora
miniature yet devastating battle
between the real powers of this

corner of imagination.

Controls

D: Increase thrust
C: Decrease thrust
Left: Bank left
Right: Bank right
Up: Pitch down
Down: Pitch up
Space: Fire machineguns
Z: Fire secondary weapon
Keypad 0: Next weapon

0TRR TREK D09:

THE FRLLEn

Category: Action/Adventure
Developer: Simon & Schuster Interactive
Need: P233, 64MB, SVGA, 3D Card
3D: Direct3D, OpenGL

Multiplayer: TCP/IP, IPX
StarTrek Deep Space Nine: The Fallen
is a thirdperson action/adventure
powered by an enhanced version of
the Unreal Tournament engine.
Playing as Sisko, Kira, or Worf, you
must battle your way through a
series of increasingly perilous
missions. You must attempt to
protect the station, and the entire
Alpha Quadrant, from a host of rival
factions that are determined to
retrieve and exploit the destructive
potential of the lost Red Orbs.

Controls

Keyboard

Ctrl: Primary Weapon Attack

Alt: Alternate Weapon Attack

W: Move Forward

S: Move Back

A: Strafe Left

D: Strafe Right

Shift: Walk Slowly

Space: Jump/Swim Up

CorNumPad Period: Crouch/Swim Down

Delete: Look Up

Page Down: Look Down

PRTCHE0

Diablo II

Heavy Metal FAKK2
Icewind Dale

Quake III Point Release 117
Soldier Of Fortune
Unreal Tournament

PI0DS

This months special addons include
Dark Reign Mods
Diablo 2 Character editors
Half-life Counterstrike 7.0
Motorcross Madness Terrain editor
Quake 3 Arena tweaks
Quake 3 Arena Fight Club
Quake 3 Urban Terror
StarTrek Deep Space Nine Mp3s
Unreal Arena beta

EPIULAT0RS

Over 100 emulators covering Amiga,
Arcade, Atari, Commodore64,
Colecovision,

Mac, N64, Neogeo, Playstation, Sega
Saturn, Sega Megadrive, Sega
Master System
and theSnes.

from the ruthless, power-hungry
monster who abducted her when he
ravaged their majestic planet and stole
its greatest secret. More than 20
powerful weapons comprise your
arsenal, including both hand to hand
and long-range
weapons. Utilising the
power of the Quake III
engine, FAKK2 features
state-of-the-art visuals.

Controls

Use the mouse to
move the camera
Crouch - c
Turn Left - q
Turn Right - e
Strafe Left - a
Strafe Right - d
Run/Walk - Shift
Use - x

Holster Weapon - r
Previous Weapon - f
Inventory - i
Sword - 1
Defense - 2
Guns - 3
Explosives - 4
Big Guns - 5
Health - 6
Camera Look - TAB
Quick Save - F6
Quick Load - F9

PCPP 127 I

DIVERSIONS

FLASHBACK WITH...

Charles Cecil

(Revolution Software)

Charles Cecil is the founder of England's Revolution Software. His previous games
include Lure of the Temptress, Beneath A Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series.
He is currently working on the action/adventure In Cold Blood.

The game that I played the most was
Warcraft2. 1 absolutely loved it. First of
all, it was exciting - 1 know it's quite
diched, but they just did it really well.
What I loved about it, - much more
than Command & Conquer - was that
not only did the units talk to you, but
you could look at them and it was so
obvious what they were going to do.
Like if you had a big, fat guy, you knew
he would just crunch everyone he
came across, but that he'd be slow. The
gameplay was incredibly intuitive,
much more so than CKC in my opinion.

I obviously play adventures as well,
and certainly three or four years ago I
enjoyed a good range of adventures.
Of course Broken Sword would be
number one, followed by Broken
Sword 2, Beneath A Steel Sky and Lure
of the Temptress... [laughs]...

But I think that a close fifth would
come Day of the Tentacle, which was
just such fun. I loved the idea of
sending hamsters through time,
baked in ice, through a toilet. At that
time, LucasArts had such bright guys
working there. Monkey Island was
very, very good as well. I'm looking
forward to the next Monkey Island
game, but I have to say that Curse of
Monkey Island wasn't nearly as
exciting as the first two.

I never really got into Sierra's
Quest games. With King's Quest, in
particular, the whole idea of King
Graham of Daventry is just so
ludicrous because Daventry is just on
the way to Luton airport and Graham
is such an un-kingly name. The games
took themselves desperately seriously,
but were completely unconvincing.

But then Sierra has now done Half-
Life. I don't want to write games that
are firstperson shooters, but Half-Life
really got me into that genre. It was just
so immersive and it was nice to play a
game that genuinely made you jump.

Metal GearSolid is a classic game.
Maybe the characters take
themselves much too seriously and,
as such, the story never really
gripped me. I wanted to continue
playing because I enjoyed the

gameplay, not because I was
convinced by the story. There was
too much talking and the characters
were pretty one-dimensional.

I'll give a place to Alone in the
Dark, too. It really was a seminal
product. And the Japanese are lying
when they say they didn't copy it
[with Resident Evil], because you
know they did. It's very Japanese,
though, to take a game that exists
and then make it a lot better.

Impossible Mission on the
Commodore 64 was just
extraordinary. It was the first game
to overlay hi-res monochrome
sprites onto lo-res coloured sprites.
It was a fantastic effect. We were
developing Spectrum games at the
time, and I just looked at this and
realised we'd been left behind.

PCPP82

JUNE 1996

The cover image of a Hindu Goddess on our second
issue was obscure enough to warrant an
explanation on the contents page inside. Her
name was Kali and her multiple arms apparently
symbolised the potential for multiplayer gaming
over the internet. Kali pioneered online gaming
and, despite its lack of user-friendliness, we owe
much to its early success. Quite what we were
thinking when we featured Screamer and Terminal Velocity as
worthwhile Kali games, though, isn't entirely clear. Complementing this look at
online gaming was a comprehensive strategy guide to Command & Conquer,
focusing completely on its multiplayer mode. Surely it's time we stopped talking
of online games as the future - it's been with us for over four years now.

REVIEWS

Terra Nova (91%), Zork Nemesis (86%), Earth Siege 2 (85%)

QUOTES

“I'm thinking wow - choose a) if you want an erection,
choose b) if you don't., the possibilities are endless."

- Mark Hamill gets all excited about interactive erotic movies.

MY FIRST GAME

WITH MURRAY PHILBRICK

RAIDERS OF
THE LOST ARK

ATARI 2600

Remarkably involved
for an Atari title
(despite its being a
mere five or six screens
long), this license had
the usual graphics that
needed annotations in
the manual to point
out what each mess of
pixels was supposed
to be. It was
confusingly obtuse
enough that I never
managed to finish it,
but it still holds most
of my earliest gaming
memories.

Contributions to MY 1ST GAME are welcome.

Send 100 words and a pic of the game (or game box) to:
letters@pcpowerplay.com.au with "MY 1ST GAME" in the subject line.

128 PCPP

COMPETITIONS

WIN!

TONY HAWK PRO SKATER 2

AND

WIZARDS & WARRIORS

T he good people at Activision have deemed
the PC PowerPlay readership to be worthy
of two of their upcoming games. As such,
they've handed us two copies of the
skateboarding spectacular that is Tony Hawk 2,

as well as two copies of the sword and sorcery
sensation that is Wizards & Warriors.

If you would like to win either or both of these
promising looking games, then just complete
the following assignments:

To win Tony Hawk 2,
we want you to
design a skateboard.

Simply draw, craft or
scribble your entry on
the back of an envelope.

The winner will be the
reader with the most creative,
artistic and original design. Mark
your entry Tony Hawk Comp.

To win Wizards & Warriors, we want
you to illustrate a fight between the
eponymous wizard and warrior.
Once more, your entry must
appear on the back of an
envelope. The winner will be the
reader with either the best
artwork or the one who makes
us laugh the most. Mark your
entry Wizards & Warriors Comp.

WHERE TO SEND

Write the answer, along with
your name and address on
the back of an envelope.

Do not forget to put the
competition name on the
front of the envelope.

All entries close October 31st.

SEND TO:

PC PowerPlay
78 Renwick St.

Redfern NSW 2016

PCPP 52 WINNERS

Voodoo Magic

D. Sinn, Red Cliffs VIC

I Want UO

(Only five winners)

S. James, Clarencetown NSW
W. Brown, Kensington Park SA
R. Sinn, Red Cliffs VIC
C. Mullins, Willunga SA
L. Grieve, Brahma Lodge SA

Best of Firstperson Action

N. Rummery, Crows Nest NSW

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